Order cigarettes online from cheapest tobacco shop

Tobacco usage caused 7 percent of all deaths above the age of 30 in India, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told the Lok Sabha Friday. Azad in a written reply cited data from the World Health Organisation's 2012 Global Report on Mortality Attributable to Tobacco.

"Seven percent of all deaths for age 30 and over in India are attributable to tobacco. The proportion of deaths was almost 12 percent for men and 1 percent for women," he said. "Tobacco was responsible for 9 percent of all non-communicable diseases and 2 percent of communicable disease-related deaths," he said.

Danville City Council is beginning to go over key issues in City Manager Joe King’s proposed budget. They tackled King’s proposed 30-cent-a-pack cigarette tax, closing the Westover Branch Library, reducing hours of operation at the main library and two recreation centers, a pay raise for city employees and a quick review of the Capital Improvements Plan during a work session Tuesday night.

King pointed out a cigarette tax is one of the few taxes cities in Virginia can impose, the others being real estate tax, personal property tax and meals/hotel taxes. King said his proposed 30-cent tax on a pack of cigarettes will bring the city $250,000-$300,000 a year in revenue.

Councilman Fred Shanks questioned how King arrived at that figure, asking what the tax would do to cigarette sales. King said he could only go by what 31 of Virginia’s 39 cities that have a cigarette tax report, but admitted there is a risk of losing sales.

The cost of a pack of cigarettes currently includes $1.01 in federal taxes and 30 cents in state taxes. North Carolina’s state tax is 45 cents per pack, and localities are not permitted to add additional taxes. If Danville adds a 30-cent tax, that means it could cost 15 cents less a pack to purchase cigarettes in North Carolina, and residents could also save money buying cigarettes in Pittsylvania County, which does not have a local tax. Mayor Sherman Saunders also questioned the wisdom of enacting the tax, noting that the potential for less expensive cigarettes within a short distance could instead turn into a loss for the city.

“What is the net cost? Will it drive away sales?” Saunders asked. Vice Mayor David Luther said he supports the tax. He said Danville attracts shoppers for other items and pointed out that the city budget needs the tax income to be balanced. Luther said anything taken from revenues included in the proposed budget requires that something else be taken away to make up the difference.

In a straw poll — not a formal vote — five council members said they would support the tax (Tomer, Luther, Alonzo Jones, Larry Campbell and Gary Miller). Saunders, Shanks and Buddy Rawley said they remain suspicious about whether the tax would truly increase revenues and oppose the tax. Councilman John Gilstrap was absent. Straw polls also showed City Council members would approve closing the Westover Branch Library for an annual savings of $61,500. Reducing hours at Coates and Glenwood recreation centers by eliminating little-used programs and transferring others to Ballou Park also got an informal nod from City Council members, and did shortening the hours at the main library by an hour on weekdays, for a savings of about $100,000 per year.

A 3-percent pay increase for city employees also got an informal go-ahead from City Council, with the exception of Shanks, who said he could support raises for police and fire department staff but did not feel it was the right time for an across-the-board raise. After brief discussion about the plans for the new fire station, City Council members also showed agreement on the CIP budget. When the budget comes up for a formal vote, it will require a 6-3 vote in favor to pass.

Quinn proposed the tax increase last week as part of a Medicaid reform plan that also calls for $2 billion in cuts, such as eliminating a discount prescription program for seniors, kicking thousands of people off the insurance rolls and slashing reimbursement rates to doctors and hospitals that provide care. Without the $700 million the cigarette tax hike is expected to generate, Quinn said reimbursement rates would have to be cut further than he initially proposed. Otherwise, the governor said he'd be forced to look at cuts in other areas, such as education spending.

"That's the real difficulty," Quinn said Tuesday. "We have in our plan, 75 percent of it is cuts, reductions, efficiencies. I think that that's about the limit given the circumstances. But we if don't succeed in the area of raising the price of cigarettes, then there will be pressure on cutting reimbursements or, perish the thought, trying to reduce education. I think that would be a very bad way to go."

The governor said lawmakers in the House must follow their counterparts in the Senate, who have twice recently voted for a cigarette tax increase. Quinn's comments came following an appearance in Humboldt Park, where he attended the groundbreaking for an expansion of Erie Elementary Charter School. The state provided $12 million in funding for the construction project, which will allow the school to build a gym and expand classroom space in order to serve 400 more students from low-income families.

Quinn's plan calls for reimbursement rates for doctors, pharmacies and hospitals that treat Medciaid patients be cut by $675 million. That amounts to a roughly 8 percent cut for health care providers, many of which are waiting as long as six months to be paid be the state for services they've already provided. Hospitals, particularly those in poor or undeserved communities, are already warning that such cuts could force their doors to close. Deeper cuts would exacerbate the situation.

Also today, the governor also stood by his call for schools, community colleges and universities to pick up more of the tab for their workers' retirement costs, saying the state can no longer pay for the bulk of those retirement benefits. The proposal is part of his effort to reform the state's employee pension system, which also calls for workers to pay more for benefits and retire later.

On Monday, Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno of Lemont suggested the funding shift to schools be separate from larger pension negotiations. Republican leaders say the idea could lead to a spike in local property taxes as schools try to cover the added costs, and fear the proposal could derail reform efforts this year. Quinn said he's willing to take some time to reach an agreement on the idea, but said Tuesday that it must happen sooner rather than later. Lawmakers are scheduled to wrap up their spring session on May 31.

Every council in Greater Manchester has backed calls for cigarettes to be sold in plain packets. A government consultation is under way over plans to strip all branding from cigarette packs sold in England, to make smoking appear less attractive. The councils agreed to back the idea at a meeting of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA).

The AGMA's chief executive will now write to the health secretary asking him to bring forward legislation. Leader of Tameside Council, Kieran Quinn, said the authority wanted to make a "stand" against smoking.

Green packets "Smoking is still the biggest killer in Greater Manchester, the biggest self-inflicted killer," he said. "It is wrong and clearly what we're trying to do in Greater Manchester is to put more pressure on the government, more pressure to say this is wrong." The government launched its consultation on the issue on 16 April. Australia is currently the only country which has so far agreed to plain packaging.

Its ban starts at the end of this year, although it is subject to a legal challenge by manufacturers. Packets will be a dark olive green, after the public was asked what the least attractive colour was. In England, smoking rates have fallen significantly since the link with cancer was established beyond doubt, in the 1950s.

But recently the decline has slowed and the number of adult smokers has hovered above the 21% mark for some time. Ministers have promised to reduce this to 18.5% by 2015.

Medicaid is facing a 33% funding cut this year, and physicians will have to make some drastic adjustments if they continue serving Medicaid patients. Deborah Tucker, CEO of Maude Whatley Health Services in West Alabama, says it is her understanding that healthcare providers will only be able to prescribe one brand-name medication and four total prescriptions, despite a patient's medical condition.

Rep. Joe Hubbard D-Montgomery says most don't realize that the Medicaid cuts will impact the state as a whole by potentially closing pediatricians offices, nursing homes, and community healthcare centers.

That's why Hubbard is proposing two bills that would essentially add a dollar 'user fee' to cigarettes. That user fee money would be earmarked for Medicaid. Hubbard says even with the dollar increase, Alabama would remain below the nation's median average for cigarette prices.

Hubbard says he chose the user fee on the portion of the state's population that voluntarily smokes because Alabama currently has one of the lowest costs for cigarettes in the country. However, Alabama's fees on alcohol are actually in the top five highest for the country.

Reynolds American says its first-quarter profit fell 29 percent as restructuring charges and a decline in cigarettes sold offset the effect of higher prices. The nation's second-biggest tobacco company Tuesday reported net income of $270 million, or 47 cents per share, for the period ended March 31. That's down from $381 million, or 65 cents per share, a year ago.

Adjusted earnings were 63 cents per share. Analysts expected 65 cents per share. The maker of Camel, Pall Mall and Natural American Spirit brand cigarettes says revenue excluding excise taxes fell 3 percent to $1.93 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $1.98 billion.

The Winston-Salem, N.C., company says it sold about 6 percent fewer cigarettes than a year ago. Volume for its smokeless tobacco brands that include Grizzly and Kodiak rose nearly 8 percent.

Imperial Tobacco's general counsel was involved in destroying research documents written by the cigarette industry on the health risks of their products, Quebec Superior Court heard Monday. Testifying at the $27-billion class-action trial against the industry, retired lawyer Roger Ackman, 73, said he also hired Montreal lawyer Simon Potter "to help him."

Potter is defending Rothmans Benson & Hedges in the class action, one of three companies being sued. Strangely, he is also to testify about his role in destroying documents. His name also appears in a 2006 United States Federal Court judgment that found American cigarette companies guilty of fraud. The judge in the case noted that lawyers, Potter among them, played a key role in deceiving the public by putting in place, then carrying out, a policy of destroying documents.

Ackman, who went to the Quebec Court of Appeal to get out of testifying at this trial but lost, dodged several questions Monday and when he did answer, favoured Imperial Tobacco, said Superior Court Justice Brian Riordan, who is presiding over the proceedings. Ackman, who left the company in 1999 after about 29 years on the job, said an agreement existed between Imperial Tobacco and its major shareholder, British American Tobacco, "to destroy documents on condition we were given access to the documents."

Gordon Kugler, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, asked Ackman how he would know what documents were available if theirs were destroyed. "I don't know, it was a long time ago," Ackman replied. "Why were lawyers involved in the destruction of research docu-ments?" Kugler asked. "I don't have an answer for that," Ackman said. "That was the way it was done."

Ackman, who was a member of the company's management committee, said he never read any of the research documents. They stemmed from studies conducted in the industry's own laboratories that showed smoking was addictive and caused cancer and other diseases. The research was kept secret from the public.

The trial, which began last month and is expected to last at least two years, involves about two million Quebec smokers and is the largest claim in Canadian history. The plaintiffs allege the cigarette industry made and sold a product it knew was dangerous. They also allege the companies stirred up a scientific controversy about the effects of tobacco while playing up the alleged benefits associated with their use, built a common front against revealing the risks related to tobacco products and specifically targeted youth to buy tobacco.

The Tobacco Board's stall at World Tobacco Middle East-2012 which began in Dubai on Monday was declared open by Sanjay Varma, Indian Consul General to Dubai. Tobacco Board Chairman G. Kamalavardhan Rao, liaison officer K. Kaladhar and Rajender Singh Bisht, Under Secretary of Ministry of Commerce, and tobacco industry representatives G.B. Rajasekhar (Indian Tobacco Association treasurer), Mittapalli Umamaheswara Rao, Tadisetty Murali Mohan, Tadisetty Venkata Rao, K. Ramakrishna were among those present.

The stalls at the premier tobacco event which showcases unmanufactured tobacco, tobacco products and machinery from around the world, included those of leading Indian exporters like M/s Sopariwala Exports, M/s Bommidala Enterprises and M/s Tej Ram Dharam Pal. On the occasion, Mr. Sanjay Varma interacted with the Indian exhibitors and assured them of all possible assistance for boosting exports of tobacco and its products to the UAE.

The remarkable sales surge of Pall Mall over the past three years has gotten the attention of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s main competitor. Bonnie Herzog, a Wells Fargo Securities analyst, said in a report last week that the rivalry between Pall Mall and fellow discount brand Marlboro Special Blends — made by Henrico County-based Philip Morris USA — has the potential to "turn into a blood bath" in terms of marketing.

Pall Mall's market share rose 0.3 percentage point in the past 12 months to 8.6 percent, unchanged from the third quarter. That's up from a 1.95 percent market share when Reynolds elevated it to a growth brand in 2006. Pall Mall cigarettes not only has supplanted Camel as Reynolds' top brand but also has chipped away at Marlboro's dominant grip on the top market share.

Because high gasoline prices have left most consumers with less disposable income, Pall Mall's move over Camel could be more than a short-term shift, analysts said. Herzog said she formed her prediction after conducting a survey of tobacco industry retail and wholesale trade contacts representing thousands of retail stores.

"The majority of our respondents indicated that promotional activity behind second-tier brands such as Pall Mall, L&M and Marlboro Special Blends has increased," Herzog said. Philip Morris USA "appears to have stepped up its game with L&M, and promotional spending behind Marlboro Special Blends continues to be aggressive, which could result in Marlboro share starting to stabilize," Herzog said.

As part of her report, Herzog raised her rating of Henrico-based Altria Group Inc., parent company of Philip Morris USA, to "outperform" and lowered Reynolds American Inc.'s rating to "market perform" because of "our concerns that Pall Mall is under siege." Herzog said Reynolds will need to expand its promotional support behind Pall Mall, which could put pressure on its margins in the near term. "Although we believe Pall Mall continues to resonate with value-seeking consumers, the brand is not immune to competitive pressures, and, therefore, we are projecting a deceleration in the brand's growth," she said. David Howard, a Reynolds spokesman, said the company "does not comment on pricing or promotional strategies" as part of its policy.

Reynolds reported its overall cigarette market share was down 1.1 percentage points to 27 percent in 2011 compared with the previous year. Its cigarette volume was down 7.4 percent for the quarter and 5.1 percent for 2011, compared with an industry decline of 3.5 percent for the year. The company said at that time the cigarette volume was affected by rivals aggressively promoting brand extension.

Daniel Delen, Reynolds' chief executive and president, has said for months that he thinks Pall Mall "is the right product at the right time." Delen said Reynolds "remains very much focused on Camel above all else, but we're very happy and confident that we can continue the growth on Pall Mall as well." "As we go through different economic cycles, they both play an extremely important role within the portfolio," he said.

Memorial Hospital in Martinsville will become tobacco-free on March 31, it announced Wednesday in a news release. Beginning on that date, tobacco use of any kind will be prohibited on all hospital property, including outside hospital and medical office building entrances, on green spaces, in parking lots and in cars parked in parking lots, the release said.

“Memorial Hospital of Martinsville & Henry County’s decision to go tobacco-free is part of its overall wellness initiative and is not an attempt to force anyone to quit using tobacco products. Rather, it’s another means for demonstrating our commitment to healthy living. It’s a policy that will help promote the health of our patients, employees and visitors,” said Skip Philips, Memorial Hospital CEO. “This decision was made with support from our board of trustees, physicians and hospital staff, and for that we are thankful.”

With the institution of its tobacco-free policy, Memorial Hospital will join national and state efforts to reduce the negative health effects of tobacco use. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Nearly 500,000 Americans die of illnesses related to tobacco use each year, the release said. According to Philips, Memorial Hospital employees who would like to stop smoking have the hospital’s support.

“Since the decision to go tobacco-free was announced internally a few months ago, employees have had the opportunity to benefit from assistance with smoking cessation therapies,” he said. “We will continue to provide this support over the long term.” “We are asking for community support in Memorial Hospital’s tobacco-free initiative as we move toward a healthier hospital environment on March 31,” Philips added.

Starting May 31, Salmon Run Mall in Watertown will go tobacco-free. The move is part of a policy change made by Pyramid Management Group LLC, Syracuse, that will affect the 15 malls it owns in New York and Massachusetts. The policy, which aims to make malls more family-friendly, will ban the use of tobacco products for the entire mall property, including entry points, hallways, sidewalks, parking lots and construction areas.

Employees at the mall who smoke will be able to sign up for free cessation programs to help them quit, said Sue H. Cassanova, project manager for BRiDGES to Prevent Tobacco of Syracuse, which helped launch the program. The policy aims to ensure the thousands of visitors at the mall are protected from second-hand smoke.

Bryce Walter started smoking cigarettes at 18 years old because his friends were smokers and they peer pressured him to start. Walter, raised in Cheyenne, Wyo., said he smoked regularly for five years until he made the decision last June to quit and become healthier for his wife Rachelle and 2 1/2-year-old son Cameron. Walter, working at Wellman Dynamics last June, started his stop-smoking mission by purchasing an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) from a co-worker.

“It helped me quit smoking,” Walter said, “but the battery and the overall mechanics of the e-cig were faulty and it broke down easily. So, I started looking on the Internet for other e-cigarette options that worked better.” Walter’s Internet search led him to a more reliable e-cigarette called Modern Vapor that uses a 510-thread battery, capable of performing for a longer period of time. The e-cigarettes helped Walter completely quit smoking, and he was so impressed he decided to test several different e-cigarettes and open a store in the Creston business district called Vape Smart Electronic Cigarette Store.

“I want to help people in Creston quit smoking,” Walter said. “I think people are sick of seeing others get lung disease, emphysema or lung cancer. Those are all are associated with smoking. We all hear those horrible smoking commercials, and we know it’s bad for our health. So, if you want to quit, my business can help.” Less toxic Walter, 23, said e-cigarettes are not a treatment for nicotine addiction, but rather a less-toxic or safer alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes. E-cigarettes are primarily made in China and include a battery that powers the heating element. Walter said when the consumer breathes in, the heating element vaporizes the e-juice located inside the e-cigarette.

Walter said the makeup of the e-juice includes nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerine and food flavorings. Currently, he has more than 50 e-juice flavors at Vape Smart Electronic Cigarette Store, 113 W. Montgomery St., including but not limited to Red Bull, Marlboro, Camel and menthol. “I’ve tested all our e-cigarettes and they provide nicotine and oral fixation to smokers,” Walters said, “but eliminate second-hand smoke, tar, carcinogens and ash contained in tobacco cigarettes.”

Well, we knew this was coming. Back in November, the city of New York filed a lawsuit against Island Smokes for avoiding the state’s high cigarette tax by allowing customers to roll their own tobacco in-store. While selling loose tobacco and not paying the cigarette tax isn’t illegal, the lawyer for the city’s corporation council affirmative litigation division, Eric Proshansky, declared that by helping patrons make their own cigs in the establishments, the stores were allowing people to leave with a finished product and thus circumventing the tax. So the question was: is a cigarette indeed more than the sum of its part?

Apparently so, since the city has decided to go after two more shops. Today the New York City Corporation Counsel and Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman launched a joint filing against tobacco stores BB’s Corner n Brooklyn and Nitecap Entertainment on Staten Island, for violating “the Federal Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act, the New York State Cigarette Marketing Standards Act, and New York State tax law.”

According to a memo released by NYC Law Department today, the stores are both guilty of lying about their product: Despite claiming not to sell cigarettes, BB’s Corner and Nitecap advertised “200 count cartons” of “smokes” for “$29.95 per carton” – less than half of the amount of the taxes alone on a carton of cigarettes.

Since November, six stores have been shut down for allowing customers to roll their own cigs. “When one business doesn’t play by the rules it hurts not only the taxpayers, who rely on tax revenue to pay for vital services, but all of the small businesses who do the right thing,” said said Finance Commissioner Frankel in the memo. “It is our job to help level the playing field for businesses and ensure all tax revenue due to the City is collected.”

Marlboro gold cigarette brand mentions in songs:
- Fort Minor «Cigarettes»
- Paula Cole «Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?»
- Mylene Farmer "California"

Cigarette brand Marlboro seen in films (product placement):
- A film directed by Leonid Gaidai, "Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Occupation" and "Sports Lottery-82"
- In "Call of the novel" Eldar Ryazanov

Smoking in Edmonton could be further restricted April 1 under a proposed bylaw preventing people from lighting up near playgrounds and other outdoor amenities for children. The new rules introduce a $250 fine for anyone caught puffing with-in 10 metres of playgrounds, spray parks, skate parks, skating rinks and sports fields, which doesn't include golf courses. The move, designed to protect children's health and reduce the chance of them taking up the tobacco habit, sounds like a workable idea, Coun. Karen Leibovici said Thursday.

"I'm sure most parents that go to a playground with their children don't sit and smoke in front of them." While she wants to know how the 10-metre boundary will be defined, she said ashtrays might be installed a suitable distance away from the play areas to become a gathering place for smokers. "I think (a bylaw) sends a message and just reinforces that not everyone is comfortable with having smokers beside them, yet recognizes that smoking is legal and we need to ensure public space is utilized properly."

A three-year, $75,000 public awareness strategy will be developed in support of the new rules, along with help from health groups and possibly restaurant chains or sports shops catering to youngsters, a re-port says. While it isn't practical to dispatch bylaw officers to complaints because smoking is a "transient" activity, they might patrol problem areas if required, it says. Coun. Kerry Diotte, the only councillor to vote against the proposal when it was debated in principle last fall, said he still believes the tighter rules are not necessary.

He's also concerned extra bylaw officers will eventually be hired to enforce the bylaw, adding to the city's costs. "I think we're just getting a little carried away when most of this can be solved with common sense and common courtesy," said Diotte, a former smoker. "It's certainly not the pressing issue I'm hearing about compared to clearing streets and fixing potholes." The proposed bylaw will be discussed Monday by council's community services committee, but must be passed by city council the following week before becoming law.