It indicated that cold turkey was the most popular way Australians chose to quit smoking. It also showed that this type of method is most popular amongst younger people while older smokers prefer to use smoking cessation aids and medications to help them quit.
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A group of attorneys seeks to end the special privilege awarded to tobacco companies by the Florida Legislature in 2003 that allows them to post a lesser bond than other private companies during the appellate process.

Jacksonville attorney John Mills, of the Mills Firm, is working with Mark Avera, Rod Smith and Dawn Marie Vallejos-Nichols of the Gainesville firm of Avera & Smith to get Section 569.23(3) of the Florida Statutes declared unconstitutional.

In most cases, civil defendants who appeal a judgment against them must follow Florida Appellate Law and post a bond equal to the amount of the judgment. The 2003 legislation made an exception for tobacco companies and capped the amount of money they have to post in the bond.

“Florida’s Constitution prohibits any law that grants privilege to a private corporation,” said Smith, “and this law passed in 2003 gives special privilege to four companies, a privilege not available to any citizen of Florida.”

The group has asked the court to find the law unconstitutional on the grounds that it grants a special privilege to private corporations and it also violates separation of powers because the legislative process interferes with the judicial process.

“We fully expect for this to find its way to the Florida Supreme Court,” said Avera. “We are prepared to see this through all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if it continues.”

The motion stems from the case of Hall v. R.J. Reynolds, et al., filed in the Eighth Judicial Circuit in Alachua County in which Avera & Smith represented Amanda Jean Hall, whose husband Arthur was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma after being a lifelong smoker, said Avera.

Arthur was 57 when he died.

The jury found that Arthur Hall was 35 percent responsible for his death because of the choices he made and found R.J. Reynolds, et al., 65 percent responsible because of choices they made in producing their product.

The court awarded Amanda Jean Hall $15.25 million, but R.J. Reynolds is appealing the decision. Under normal circumstances, the company would be required to post a $17.64 million bond, the awarded amount plus interest, but, because it is a tobacco company, R.J. Reynolds has posted a $5 million bond, according to Mills.

“Ordinarily, when the jury returns its verdict and the judge decides the verdict is correct and enters a judgment, the plaintiff is entitled to start collecting the money,” said Mills. “If the defendant wants to avoid paying out the money, the law requires that they post a security so that the plaintiff knows that after the long appeal process the money is going to be there.”

With recent financial history in mind, the legal team is afraid of allowing private companies the freedom to use the money that they would normally have tied up in a bond.

“One word, Enron,” said Mills. “We used to think that we didn’t need to worry about these blue-chip companies. If the last 20 years, or the last five years, have taught us anything, it’s that no one is safe.”

Mills experienced a corporate reshuffling himself recently as he amicably parted ways with Mills, Creed & Gowdy to open his own practice, The Mills Firm. He didn’t feel that the smaller staff would affect the appeals.

“I’ve lightened my case load and I’m solely focused on the case,” said Mills.

The group expects the appeal process to last at least two years.

CRESTVIEW — A 21-year-old woman was charged with battery May 18 and her husband came home and said he wanted a divorce, which led to an argument, according to her Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

During the argument, the husband broke her cigarettes and she slapped him across his face.

The deputy noticed that the left side of the man’s face was darker red than the right, the report said. He determined that the woman was the primary aggressor, both for slapping her husband and for taking one of their children from his arms.

Two surveys conducted ahead of ‘World No Tobacco Day’ to be observed on May 31 revealed that smoking among women employees in the BPO and media sector is slowly on the rise. The two separate surveys were conducted by Dr Gauravi Mishra Consultant, Department of Preventive Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital and Dr Ravikant Singh, Founder President ‘Doctors for You’, an NGO which consists of voluntary medical doctors and students that works towards improving the lives of people through provision of better health and education.

The study conducted by Dr. Gauravi Mishra during a period of one year and involving more than 800 employees between four BPO units, found that 8% of call center women employees were smokers. It also established that smoking occurred during break time where smokers and non-smokers intermingled. The average age of respondents was between 20-25 years. Male employees in the four BPO centers surveyed constituted 80% of the workforce, while call center women employees formed the remaining 20%.

Most of the BPO employees surveyed had poor knowledge on the ill-effects of smoking. The medical history of employees revealed predominance of respiratory symptoms such as cough, throat pain, bronchitis, breathlessness and gastric disorders. Many employees presented with hoarseness of voice, which may be due to the combination of voice based requirement of the job in addition to ill-effects of smoking.

On the other hand, the survey conducted by Dr Ravikant among 1,500 journalists across 15 leading print, electronic and advertising houses over a period of one month, found that the number of women in the media profession, who smoked has increased from 5% to 35% in the last few years. He said, “Tobacco companies have been using eye catching campaigns to target the gullible youth especially young women through various surrogate mediums such as fashion shows. This habit picked up early in life becomes all the more difficult to get rid of later in life especially if they are in the company of smokers.”

Releasing the findings, Dr Gauravi Mishra, said, “The growing phenomenon of smoking among women employees is due to peer pressure. Several BPO employees frequent hookah bars to unwind, while others smoke in either the office corridors or washrooms. While a lot of women admitted to smoking, cases of passive smoking bothered several other women.”

Dr. Gauravi Mishra achieved good ‘tobacco quit rates’, after making use of different intervention strategies during her study. However, high attrition rate among the BPO employees proved to be a major stumbling block in taking the study further.

The study in its conclusion recommended a comprehensive health policy incorporating tobacco cessation programs as an extended benefit to the BPO employees to help them quit the habit. Further, the study suggested that BPO employers need to incorporate proper awareness and education programs on concepts such as ergonomics, healthy lifestyles and psychosocial related problems.

Stating that the study findings were a serious cause for concern, Professor Surendra Shastri, Head, Preventive Oncology at the Tata Memorial Hospital and Chairman of Smokefree Mumbai Campaign, said “Smoking among women workforce in the BPO industry and media houses has become a common phenomenon these days.

Most women start off as young girls when they believe smoking is glamorous. Some choose smoking as they think it’s a quick-fix solution to their stress problems. Young girls do not realize that due to smoking, they are at a risk of several reproductive hazards such as low birth weight, lower gestation periods and higher rate of still-borns apart from cardio-vascular risks.”

Imperial Tobacco, maker of Lambert & Butler and Embassy cigarettes, is in line for a windfall of up to £900 million after launching a review that could lead to the sale of part of its European transport business, Logista.

A spokesman for the tobacco giant, which is in the middle of a legal battle against a £112 million fine for price-fixing, said the board was considering whether to sell all, or part of its non-tobacco logistics operations.

These include distribution of high-value documents, tickets, phone cards, pharmaceuticals, books and periodicals.
‘The company wants to focus on its core business of distributing tobacco,’ said the spokesman.

He added that Logista’s non-tobacco business had been struggling more than its tobacco arm because of pressure in the Spanish economy.

Madrid-based Logista, which runs a fleet of 1,600 trucks, and operates mainly in Spain, Italy, France and Portugal, was acquired by Imperial Tobacco after it bought Spanish rival Altadis in February 2008.

Its business is divided roughly equally between tobacco and other services.

The spokesman said that another option being considered was to undergo major cost-cutting and keep the non-core Logista arm. However sources close to the company said this was unlikely.

It operates from 12 warehouses and 22 transit hubs in Europe, where it also has nearly 80 provincial warehouses. Imperial is expected to appoint an adviser, once incoming boss Alison Cooper takes over on May 13 from chief executive Gareth Davis who is retiring.

Last week, the company reported profits of £974 million for the six months to the end of March, a move back into the black after losses of £184 million in the same period a year earlier, when results were hit by the impact of currency hedges.

Sales rose eight per cent to £13.4 billion and Imperial increased its first half dividend by 16 per cent to 24.3p.

Deutsche Bank analyst Jonathan Fell said a Logista sale would allow the company further to pay down debt taken on to buy Altadis. Debt has fallen to £12.3 billion from £15.2 billion over the past year.

Inside a two-toned metal tube, a cartridge is heated by a battery powered atomizer-and poof!-a cloud of vapor glides through the tube and escapes an odorless cloud.

This is not a science experiment that can be found in any laboratory or classroom, but on the street, in bars and restaurants. This may be the future of smoking.

21 Century Smoking, located at 2515 N. Lincoln Ave., in Lincoln Park, has worked to provide the best in electronic cigarettes since its beginnings in late 2008.

The shop’s low key décor highlights the new product on tables and stands. At first glance, it looks like an average electronics store.

Co-owner, Brent Duke, 31, of Santa Barbara, CA, started the company, partnering with Steve Spraker, 35, and Duke’s brother in Ventura, CA. “There really needed to be a better alternative,” said Duke of other electronic cigarette companies he has encountered. “So, I created it.”

Electronic cigarettes, or ‘e-cigs,’ allow smokers to ingest nicotine without tobacco or many of the harmful products of traditional cigarettes. “Our mission is to create an alternative to cigarette smoking,” said Duke.

E-cigs consist of natural flavors (mainly Propylene Glycol, a food additive), nicotine, and water. Other contents include Tabanone, Damascone, Linalool, Acetylpyrazine, and Dimethylpyrazine-all substances that have been approved by the FDA for consumption, but not necessarily for breathing.

The FDA is currently refusing to approve or regulate e-cigs as a new drug. Smokers have to decide if they want thousands of known chemicals, said Duke, or the opportunity to try a new alternative.

E-cigs boast an absence of certain harmful ingredients found in traditional cigarettes, including tar, benzene (petrol additive), formaldehyde, ammonia, arsenic, and hydrogen cyanide. Of the 40 known carcinogens in traditional cigarettes, only a trace amount has been found in the electronic alternative.

21 Century Smoking offers several models of e-cigs, each tailored to the convenience of their customers. “To smokers,” said Duke, “that’s (convenience) a gigantic deal.”

The Blackjack is 4 ½ inches long. It contains a battery that lasts 650 puffs per charge, and a cartridge that lasts 300 puffs (approximately a pack and a half of cigarettes). A starter kit includes a battery, two chargers (home and USB), instruction manual, and five cartridges.

Two other models offer customers smaller, more manageable models.
The Pocket Ace (3 ½ inches) is marketed as a ‘mini e-cig.’ The Jackpot is four inches long, but is the lightest of the three. Both of these models contain cartridges that allow for the equivalent of ½ to one full pack of cigarettes.

Unlike traditional cigarettes, e-cigs allow for the regulation of nicotine to the smoker. Available settings are high, medium, low, and none.

“Granted, it’s the nicotine that’s addictive,” said Adam McGovern, a UIC student and recent convert to e-cigs, in an email. “But at least I won’t have a whole pack of traditional cigarettes waiting to be finished.”

There is no external heat with e-cigs. Smokers need only to pull the e-cig from a pocket or purse, take the number of drags desired, and put it away. “There are a lot of people that try to light it,” said Spraker of people trying the product for the first time.

Carrying cases are offered, in a variety of colors, which charge the device’s battery as it is stowed.

Duke, an e-cig smoker, and former smoker of traditional cigarettes, spoke of the obligation involved with traditional cigarettes. “I’ve taken 3 hits, and that was probably enough,” he said. “[But] I paid for it. I’m going to smoke it.”

E-cig smoking is regulated by the puff. The customer needs only to purchase the model of their choice, and re-stock cartridges and batteries as needed. “The best case scenario is that it will help me quit smoking all together,” said Mcgovern.

21 Century Smoking offers e-cig flavors comparable to those of traditional cigarettes, and many more. The most popular are Monte Carlo (similar to Marlboro) and Menthol. Other flavors include Vegas (similar to Camel), clove, coffee, energy drink, chocolate, and tobacco.

The company encourages its customers to suggest new flavors.

A federal case, passed in January, requiring that the FDA stop blocking importation of e-cigs, has been repealed. Importation is currently illegal.

“It’s a critical time for people to know what’s happening in the industry,” said Duke. “They could take away people’s right to choose.”

Uncertainty regarding the effects of e-cigs has slowed the judicial process, said Duke, as he reiterated the simple content
list of 21 Century Smoking e-cigs.
“Nicotine’s in tomatoes,” he said. “Are you going to ban tomatoes?”

In the Illinois House, a recently postponed bill to ban all sales of e-cigs in the state was removed to the Rules Committee last week. SB3174 was then passed on to the Human Services Committee after its expiration date, said Duke.

21 Century Smoking’s current goal is to generate awareness of the new product in Lincoln Park and throughout Chicago. “We’ve been promoting to the people standing outside the bars,” said Spraker.

21 Century Smoking is expanding and opening new locations. Shops can be found in Illinois, California, Massachusetts, and Nebraska.

The Lincoln Park location is currently offering free samples of the product, and is eager to provide a full explanation of the technology. 21 Century Smoking offers a one-year warranty on all batteries, and will give a complete refund within 30 days of purchase for any unhappy customers.

It is likely that the government will accept the product eventually, said Duke. “I think it will definitely be head-to-head with regular cigarettes on the shelves.”

A REFORMED smoker has hit out after being asked to take his smoking inhaler outside.

Bertie Dadge, 52, of London Road, said bosses at The Regal in King’s Square told him not to smoke the nicotine substitute at the bar.

Bertie, a qualified sous chef in Germany, said: “It’s like I’m being discriminated against because I’m trying to be healthier.”

He said he had only gone in to the pub to have a soft drink with some friends.

They even joked about him “getting himself banned” for having the mock-cigarette.

He said: “I was in there drinking lemon and lime, because I’m trying to cut down on my drinking.

“I wasn’t drunk, and I walked up to the bar to get another drink, and the barman said ‘can you smoke that electric cigarette outside please’.

“I said it wasn’t an electric cigarette, but he said he had told me once and asked me to stand outside.

“I left of my own accord, but when I came back again later with another friend, he told her I was banned and refused to talk to me about it.”

A spokesman for Wetherspoon, which owns the pub, said: “The gentleman had come in and been asked to stop using the inhaler, as they are banned in all our pubs.

“The gentleman accepted this and agreed to put it away, but the member of staff mentioned it to the shift manager, who recognised the gentleman as someone who has been banned on a previous occasion.

“It’s not a case of him being banned again, he was already banned and it is a policy of ours not to allow them in our pubs.”

FSIN to Sask.: Butt out (SP, March 20). Status Indians can purchase up to three cartons per week at on-reserve stores without paying $36.60 per carton in provincial tax.

Someone who smokes a 25-cigarette pack a day is considered a heavy smoker. Who can smoke 85 cigarettes a day, either ceremoniously or socially?

Of course, very few status Indians can, or do smoke this amount. So what happens to all this tobacco?

There’s a black market for tax-free tobacco precisely because cigarettes are excessively taxed. How much is sold this way in Saskatchewan I don’t know, but I do know two non-aboriginal smokers who save a lot of money on the black market and I do not begrudge them.

In a nefarious manner, this does create some wealth for the seller and opportunity for the buyer.

FSIN vice chief Morley Watson acknowledges the harmful effects of tobacco.

An aboriginal woman called a radio talk show to tell about a friend who was brought up in an smoke-filled environment at home and in bingo halls and lost a lung when she was in her early 20s. She was worried about youngsters being brought up in such an environment.

She hit the nail on the head in calling for a decrease in allowable cigarettes and taxing beyond the set amount.

Treaty rights are for children too, who have no voice in this issue and suffer for it. Watson and the FSIN seem to be the ones putting up the “smoke screen.”

Imperial Tobacco was a casualty yesterday as the FTSE 100 continued to flatline near its 18-month high.

The maker of Davidoff and Gauloises lost 2.5 per cent to £20.91, its sharpest fall in six weeks, after UBS said earnings growth was set to slow significantly and consensus forecasts for next year looked too high.

Imperial was running out of cost savings from its purchase in 2008 of Altadis but remained hamstrung by the debt, analyst Jonathan Leinster said.

He argued that Imperial had very few internationally recognised brands and was underweight compared with peers in emerging markets.

But Deutsche Bank said worries about an earnings slowdown were “frankly, bizarre”.

Imperial had been providing the same profit guidance in investor presentations for two years and its increased stress recently on driving organic sales growth should be reason for encouragement, the broker argued.

The FTSE 100 recovered from a fall of as much as 0.8 per cent to close barely changed, down 4.42 points at 5,602.3.

Banks weakened on profit taking, a trend encouraged by Jonathan Pierce, Credit Suisse analyst.

He said UK lenders still had to shrink their asset books by up to 18 per cent to meet new liquidity requirements in addition to raising new funding, which would temper any recovery.

Lloyds Banking Group was down 0.9 per cent to 53¼p and Royal Bank of Scotland lost 1.2 per cent to 39p. Barclays , recently the subject of rumours about a fundraising backed by a Chinese investor, closed flat at 345¾p.

Liberty International led property stocks lower, losing 4.1 per cent to 486p, after a lower than expected portfolio valuation overshadowed its break-up plans.

BAE Systems drifted 1 per cent to 380½p on news it was facing an export ban while US authorities process its plea bargain on corruption allegations. Analysts played down the potential disruption, saying the bar was likely to be brief and relatively easy to work round.

Arm Holdings faded 0.7 per cent to 229p after Tudor Brown, director and co-founder, raised nearly £1.2m with a share sale.

Other dollar earners featured among the gainers, with Aggreko taking on 2 per cent to £10.66 after UBS raised forecasts and repeated “buy” advice.

Old Mutual , which has been looking to sell its US operations, gained 1.8 per cent to 121½p ahead of tomorrow’s results and strategy update.

Credit Suisse remained positive on Compass Group , up 0.7 per cent to 503p, after a meeting with management boosted confidence that the caterer could improve profit margins.

Shanks Group headed the mid-cap fallers, down 15.1 per cent to 102¼p, after it walked away from takeover talks with Carlyle Group, which had offered 120p per share. Speculation that Carlyle might take the offer direct to shareholders helped keep the stock above 90p, which was where it was trading before the approach was made public.

In spite of sector consolidation gossip, Misys fell 3 per cent to 236¼p. Citigroup said the software maker was too optimistic about how quickly customers would adopt its banking and healthcare products. With shares trading at 25 times its current-year forecasts, any disappointment against the ambitious targets could trigger a derating, the broker said.

Logica was up 3.3 per cent to 124¼p after Evolution Securities turned positive on the IT services group, citing recovering demand and a prospective 12 per cent free cashflow yield next year.

A retread of takeover speculation helped Tullett Prebon , the inter-dealer broker, edge 0.5 per cent higher at 310¼p. Some traders were also suggesting that housebuilder Barratt Developments , down 1.6 per cent to 115½p, could be vulnerable to an offer.

Better than feared maiden results from Gartmore , up 2.6 per cent to 195p, helped buoy other fund managers. Henderson Group rose 3.6 per cent to 132p and F&C Asset Management took on 1.5 per cent to 63½p ahead of results due this morning.

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NEW YORK—Newport cigarette maker Lorillard Inc. announced Monday it will soon enter the market for moist smokeless tobacco products, but said that an earlier joint venture with Swedish Match AB to develop a new product in the U.S. had been mutually terminated.

Moist smokeless tobacco is a type of tobacco product that is popular in the U.S. and widely sold by companies like Altria Group Inc. through brands like Copenhagen and Skoal. Sales of these smokeless tobacco products have risen in the U.S. even as cigarette sales have dropped.

Lorillard didn’t provide details of the new moist smokeless tobacco product it will sell in the U.S. but said that an existing joint venture with Swedish Match to develop a new “snus” tobacco product for the U.S. had been terminated. Snus is a nearly 200-year-old Swedish product. In 2006 Lorillard entered into a joint venture with Swedish Match North America to develop and study the possibility of marketing a tobacco product for the U.S. market called Triumph Snus.

Snus differs from most smokeless tobacco products in the U.S. as it is created through a special pasteurization process. It comes in small pouches and doesn’t require spitting. On a conference call, Lorillard said the snus product didn’t make gains in the test markets in the U.S. and that it may not have been the right time for the product in North America. Lorillard appears to be betting that Americans will continue to lean toward traditional formulations like moist smokeless tobacco, as opposed to newer forms they are less familiar with.

Other companies are still saying they believe snus has a future in the U.S. Altria and Reynolds American Inc. have launched snus products, but sales of these products have generally stayed relatively small. Both these companies, however, say they are expanding the reach of their snus products.

A spokesman for Reynolds American, David Howard, said the company has been very pleased with sales of its Camel Snus product and believes that it is a “viable” product. The company rolled out Camel Snus nationwide in the first quarter of 2009 after putting it in test markets for almost three years. “It’s a small market but we believe there is potential growth for that market,” Howard said. An Altria spokesman, Brendan McCormick, said the company is pleased with the results of its Marlboro Snus product in test markets and will be expanding it nationally at the end of March.

Swedish Match sells its flagship snus brand General in the U.S. as well as another brand called Catch. These were sold outside of the Lorillard joint venture and will continue to be sold here. Swedish Match will also continue selling the moist smokeless tobacco products, such as its Red Man and Timberwolf brands, it already sells in the U.S.

“We remain committed to the U.S. market,” Lars Dahlgren, chief executive of Swedish Match said in an email statement. The company says the dissolution of the Lorillard joint venture has no bearing on its snus joint venture company with Philip Morris International Inc. That venture aims to distribute snus products outside of the U.S. and Scandinavia.

Lorillard’s fourth-quarter earnings fell 6.2% on declining volume and increased manufacturing and marketing costs, though sales rose with the help of higher prices.

Lorillard dominates the market for menthol cigarettes. Lorillard’s Newport brand represents the bulk of its U.S. sales, and its U.S. volume fell 6.5% during the quarter, though its U.S. market share rose to 10.32% from 9.86%.

Overall, the U.S. cigarette industry has seen volumes drop amid higher taxes and bans on smoking in public places. But Lorillard has held up better since its Newport brand has been able to grow its market share.