Free Republic

RICHMOND, Va. -- Something unusual is cropping up alongside the tomatoes, eggplant and okra in Scott Byars' vegetable garden - the elephantine leaves of 30 tobacco plants. Driven largely by ever-rising tobacco prices, he's among a growing number of smokers who have turned to their green thumbs to cultivate tobacco plants to blend their own cigarettes, cigars and chew. Byars normally pays $5 for a five-pack of cigars and $3 for a tin of snuff; the seed cost him $9. "I want to get to where I don't have to go to the store and buy tobacco, but I'll just...

Kanawha-Charleston Health Department Sanatarians made several visits to the bar throughout the night. CHARLESTON W.Va.-- One year later -- and still going strong -- allowing smokers to light up inside the Blackhawk Saloon. Wednesday, the Blackhawk Saloon held it's second annual smoker's night inside the bar. The establishment has been allowing smoking inside since the county wide clean indoor air regualtion went into effect last year. Owner Kerry Ellison says taking away smoking means taking away his business. "I'm in the beer selling business," he said. "If you come in and you want to smoke a cigarette while you drink...

NITRO -- If it's ultimately up to the city of Nitro smoking is now allowed inside Tri State Racetrack and Gaming Center. Nitro City Council voted unanimously Tuesday evening to pass an ordinance allowing smoking inside certain parts of the facility. While it's still unclear if the city's ordinance can overrule a county wide regulation prohibiting smoking, Dan Adkins with the track says they're willing to be the first to try. "You know, I kind of look at this as this might be very important because if the legislature does choose to address this issue we've got other facilities like...

More Dangerous than Smoking? Men who have had sex with men since 1977 have an HIV prevalence 60 times higher than the general population and 800 times higher than first time blood donors, the FDA reports. When it comes to combating cigarettes, the government not only restricts, taxes and bans smoking, it also funds and encourages anti-smoking messages and advertisements. Given the immense health risks of male homosexual sex, shouldn’t the federal government do a comprehensive study on the matter, tax sodomitic establishments, and educate the public and especially young people about the dangers of “gay” sex? Speaking Friday at...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Back in 2000, it was a program that put West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency ahead of the pack. The idea of making smokers pay more for their benefits hasn't always been liked, but it has worked. The fee started as $5 to $10 extra for workers who smoked. That cost has grown over the years. In July, the premium went up to $30 for single coverage and $50 for a family insurance plan. "I do pay because I'm honest and I don't mind paying the extra money to smoke," said Maurice Washington. Washington works for...

I have completely avoided anything that might be seen as "Obama bashing" up to this point, although I have been heavily critical of his SCHIP tax. I've been very unhappy with how much thinly veiled racism I've seen from all sorts of folks disagreeing with him on all sorts of policies and have wanted no part of it or any appearance of supporting it. That has not changed. But, breaking campaign promises is one thing. Even when they are broken blatantly and without apologies. Lying is something else entirely. [b]President Obama clearly, without ANY doubt or quibbling whatsoever, blatantly lied...

If you make big bucks — or enjoy alcohol, cigarettes and Coke — the government might hit you up to pay for fixing the nation’s health care system. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee peeked into vending machines and liquor stores, company payrolls and health savings accounts, looking for a mix of tax increases and spending cuts as a way to pay for a health overhaul — which could cost more than $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Enforcing Kanawha County's smoking ban is not only getting harder for workers with the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, it's also becoming dangerous. At Tuesday's health board meeting, members talked about problems inspectors are having while doing smoking checks at bars. There has been several incidents over the last couple months where inspectors were harassed, had paperwork torn up and thrown in their face and in at least one incident an inspector was followed out to his car. Board members are preparing to ask the Kanawha County Sheriff's department to provide escorts for health inspectors while they're checking...

Britney Spears walked off stage shortly after the start of a concert last night at Vancouver's GM Place, leaving the crowd to sit in the dark for 30 minutes. The Vancouver Sun reports that a voice came on the venue's loudspeaker during the dark period informing the audience that cigaratte smoke was to blame. "It's become uncomfortable and unsafe for the performers, including Ms. Spears,"

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — For more than a century, the Sharp family of eastern North Carolina has grown tobacco, nicknamed the "golden leaf" for reasons that went beyond the cured plant's rich color. `snip "There's nothing else we're doing that comes even close to yielding the profits that tobacco yields." For generations, tobacco growers were a protected class, as lawmakers across the South defended the golden leaf as stridently as politicians from Michigan and New York do automakers and Wall Street. It remains a huge business: The tobacco crop in North Carolina alone, where farmers produce nearly half the value...

Tobacco connoisseurs can't catch a break. A new federal tax recently approved by President Obama has increased cigarette carton prices by more than $10 - about 75 cents a pack. The tax was passed in January as part of a multibillion dollar package to provide health care for children and certain legal immigrants. Local tobacco users and dealers admit the cause is admirable, but said the tax is unjust. “There is about zero common sense or logic in this whole tax,” said David Roth, owner of Tobacco Alley in Somerset. “It is a revenue stream that has been drying up...

Smokers Don't Like The Hike HUNTINGTON W.Va. -- The federal tax on tobacco will increase from 39-cents to $1.01 in April. That increase has some smokers angry while others say it may be a reason to cut back or quit for good. Smokers in West Virginia are bracing for a huge increase in price next month. According to national report, New Yorkers pay the highest state tax at $2.75 per pack. South Carolina residents pay only 7-cents. State taxes on cigarettes in West Virginia are 25-cents per pack. Some smokers say the increase in taxes, whether state or federal will...

CHARLESTON W.Va.-- Blackhawk Saloon owner Kerry Ellison takes his fight against the Kanawha County smoking ban to the courtroom. "I'm not the smoking police," said Ellison who received citations in August and October from the health department for allowing his patrons to light up. It's something he hasn't been trying to hide. A large "Smokers Welcome" sign hangs on the side of his establishment. The business owner represented himself during trial Wednesday and argued it is not his responsibility to make others comply with the regulations. "I think as a whole if everyone would ignore it it would go away....

It took only 16 days for President Obama to break his campaign promise not to raise taxes on the poor. When President Obama signed the SCHIP bill, increasing the excise tax on Tobacco products by 156%, he raise taxes on 55% of smokers who are the “working poor” and the 25% of smokers who live below the poverty line. This bill is to provide health care to many of these smokers’ children. If he cared about the health of these children, the purpose of the cigarette tax would be to deter smoking because many children from homes of smokers require...

Senate Passes SCHIP Bill with Federal Tobacco Tax IncreaseJanuary 30, 2009 The U.S. Senate voted 66-32 this week to approve a major expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), funded with a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal tobacco tax, Reuters reported Jan. 30. The $32.8-billion SCHIP bill would expand eligibility for the health-insurance program to an additional 11 million children; about 7.4 million kids are covered by SCHIP now. The measure was passed twice last year, but vetoed both times by President George Bush. A similar measure has already passed the House of Representatives, and House Speaker Nancy...

ARE YOU A FORMER TOBACCO USER??? 7th Grade Science Fair SURVEY 1. How old are you currently? 2. How many years have you smoked or chewed tobacco? 3. How old were you when you started smoking or chewing? 4. How long (mo./yrs.) have you been free from tobacco use? 5. Who/What influenced you to start smoking or chewing tobacco? 6. Are you currently using tobacco product(s) regularly? How often? 7. Have you tried to QUIT using tobacco products? How many attempts? 8. How many cigarettes or cans of chewing tobacco do/did you use per day? 9. Does anyone in your...

Smokers banned from becoming foster parentsKatharine Barney, Evening Standard 29.10.08   Stubbed out: Redbridge Council has banned smokers from fostering children   SMOKERS will be banned from fostering children under radical measures to be introduced in London.Redbridge council is thought to be the first in the country to implement the rules, despite a shortage of 2,000 foster carers across the capital.The move is aimed at limiting children's exposure to the effects of passive and second-hand smoke from cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco.The new smoking policy, to be voted on next week, will apply to all foster carers except family...

Aug. 4, 2008 -- Jets of searingly hot water spewing up from the ocean floor have been discovered in a far-northern zone of the Arctic Ocean, Swiss-based scientists announced Monday. The so-called "black smokers" were found 73 degrees north, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Greenland and Norway, in the coldest waters yet for a phenomenon first observed around the Galagapos islands in 1977.The earth's plumbing system of hydrothermal vents contain their own, unique ecosystems given the absence of sunlight at depths, in this case, of 7,874 feet, with vinegar-like water attaining temperatures of up to 752 degrees Fahrenheit.A team from...

Smoking ban leads to new religion Wednesday 16 July 2008Café owners in the Netherlands are joining religious movement known as the One and Universal Smokers Church of God, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday.‘We stand firmly behind the church’s teachings and that is smoking,’ Cor Busch, owner of the former Lindeboom café in Alkmaar told the paper. ‘Smokers are being discriminated against… but a beer and a cigarette belong together.’ Smoking has been banned in Dutch bars since July 1. Several dozen bars have joined the movement which claims the Dutch constitution and European rules give it legitimacy under the...

Smokers in deprived communities of the Scottish city of Dundee will be offered cash to quit the habit as part of a new program coming in the fall. Organizers working with the Scottish government say the $986,000 pilot program aims to help 900 of the city's 36,000 smokers to stop over the next two years. Participants in the new initiative will be offered $25 per week credited onto an electronic card for a maximum of 12 weeks. They can redeem the money in their local supermarket for fresh food and groceries — but not alcohol and cigarettes.

Remember the campaign against smokers? It started quietly and grew to hysteria. From bans to added taxes, smokers were left to wonder what hit them. Tobacco was (and continues to be) a legal substance. Now, following the same pattern, a push has started against red meat.

Initiative Would Exempt Cigar Bars From Indoor Smoking Ban By Austin JenkinsOlympia, WA  March 19, 2008 3:28 p.m. Washington State’s two-year-old indoor smoking ban is facing a challenge. Cigar shop owners have filed a citizen initiative to roll-back part of the law.Dale Taylor is with the newly formed Cigar Association of Washington. He says the initiative would allow smoking in cigar shops, cigar bars, private clubs and service organizations like the Elks.Dale Taylor: “What we’re asking for here is a fair and reasonable exemption to the law that allows a cigar store, for instance like the one I work in,...

Whatever your feeling on smoking bans, you kind of have to admire the way some bars in Minnesota are getting around their state's tough new restrictions on the practice. Like Toronto, Minnesota has banned smoking in its pubs and nightclubs, but the legislators did leave one loophole - actors on stage are allowed to light up a cigarette if it's something their characters would do in the context of a play.

China has an estimated 350 million smokers Health officials in the Chinese city of Chongqing are urging people to report their family members to the authorities if they violate a smoking ban.The initiative is part of a campaign in two districts of the city to tackle the effects of passive smoking. Those who are accused of smoking will have their names posted on a warning list on community notice boards. As well as the campaign within families, a workplace smoking ban is also being tried in public buildings. A hospital boss whose organisation is taking part in the trial...

PEOPLE with mental illness are three times more likely to smoke, and experts say not enough is being done to help this vulnerable group quit. A new Access Economics report shows almost 1.3 million Australians with a mental illness are smokers, costing $33 billion a year. SANE Australia, which commissioned the report, is calling for urgent action to introduce quit smoking programs and supports for people with a mental illness. Executive director Barbara Hocking said smokers with a mental illness paid about $2.8 billion every year in tobacco taxes, but there was little evidence of equitable funding and few programs...

Riot police storm pub after a smoker lights up in protest to the banLast updated at 08:37am on 15th October 2007  The ban on smoking in public places came into force in July this year  It wasn't exactly the dramatic finale one cricket fan was expecting. Having installed himself in his local pub to watch England play India, John Vaughan was enraged when the channel was switched over to football just as the cricket was reaching its thrilling conclusion. So Mr Vaughan lit up a cigarette in protest. When he refused to extinguish it, staff pressed a panic button...

Do people on the dole have a reasonable expectation of privacy vis-à-vis their financial affairs? No. That question, though not always my answer, is coming up frequently as defenders of the Democratic Party's $35 billion SCHIP expansion proposal condemn bloggers and talk show hosts, including Rush Limbaugh, who have examined the statement penned by aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and delivered as the official Democratic Party rebuttal to President Bush's weekly radio address by 12-year-old Graeme Frost, that the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is for "families like mine." The questioners' question: If Graeme Frost's family isn't...

Companies seeking to cut rising health care costs are starting to dock the pay of overweight and unhealthy workers. Clarian Health, an Indiana hospital chain, will require workers who smoke to pay $5 out of each paycheck starting in 2009. For workers deemed obese, as much as $30 will be taken out each paycheck until they meet certain weight, cholesterol and blood pressure standards. Clarian employees will also be required to take part in a health risk appraisal that will inform the company which employees smoke. Such appraisals are becoming a popular tool for businesses to determine the health of...

News Next, a ban on smoking in our parks and open spacesBy STEVE DOUGHTY - More by this author » Last updated at 23:23pm on 1st July 2007  Smokers were getting used to huddling outside pubs - as plans were being made to further clamp down on their habit.  The smoking ban which came into force yesterday could be extended to include playgrounds and parks, it has emerged. Government medical advisers are also demanding higher taxes on tobacco and bolder health warnings to pile the pressure on smokers to give up. England yesterday followed Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland...

Children urged to pressure parents on smoking By Adam Lusher, Sunday Telegraph  Last Updated: 11:48pm BST 30/06/2007 Visit the Telegraph's Smoking Ban Homepage Young children are to be mobilised to heap pressure on their parents to give up smoking, in a continuing drive against the habit.As England awakes to a ban on lighting up in pubs and restaurants today, plans have been drawn up for "smoking cessation support workers" to visit schools to "educate" children about the dangers of passive smoking.   The children will then be urged to return home and "stand up for their rights" by telling their...

Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) had tarnished its name here by publicly attacking and murdering children, videotaping beheadings, all while imposing harsh punishments on Iraqi civilians found guilty of violating morality laws prohibiting activities like smoking. The AQI installed Sharia court had sanctioned the amputation of the two “smoking fingers” for those who violated anti-smoking laws. In part because local sentiment was shifting against it, AQI synthesized with other groups and undertook an image makeover, christening itself “The Islamic State of Iraq.” But the new name was just lipstick on a pig here. On the evening of the 24th I...

David W. Kuneman, Director of Research of the Smoker's Club, Inc. originally became interested in the economic effects of smoking bans 4 years ago while reading an review article titled Review of the quality of studies on the economic effects of smoke-free policies on the hospitality industry. (1) That review article claimed that the "better quality" studies of post-smoking-ban effects always found no loss in the hospitality sector, and also claimed that of the studies finding any losses, "none were funded by a source clearly independent of the tobacco industry.""Yet, when bans pass, we always hear complaints from the hospitality...

Pub patio heaters for smokers will produce 'as much pollution as a small city'By DAVID DERBYSHIRE - More by this author » Last updated at 22:00pm on 10th June 2007  Pubs are installing patio heaters in outdoor smoking areas Patio heaters installed by pubs to keep smokers warm on chilly nights could soon produce as much carbon dioxide as a small city, it has been claimed. Next month's smoking ban has triggered huge demand for the gas-fired heaters from pubs, restaurants and clubs creating legal outdoor smoking areas. But according to experts, a single heater releases more carbon dioxide...

Don't Get Me Started Really Angry By Andrew C. ''Andy'' Hefty Ok, now I am really angry. In fact, I am so upset that my teeth are clenched in a fit of rage. My fury stems from a collection of news articles over the last few weeks that show how completely out of touch some Americans really are. Now, this may sound like one of my typical "spouting" columns, but it's not. Hillary Clinton's Chutzpah This exceptionally dangerous politician has shown incredible audacity. Remember how over the last couple of years when Iraq became less popular that the junior senator...

Images that show how fingerprints can be used to reveal whether you are a smoker, an avid coffee drinker or even a drug addict have been revealed by UK scientists. They were produced using a novel forensic technique that could in future be used on fingerprints collected at a crime scene. If the prints in question are not on file, this would still give police a powerful way to shrink their pool of suspects, by identifying their lifestyle habits. The technique was developed by a team of forensics experts at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, and King's...

AKARP, Sweden, March 9 A Swedish woman has been sued for smoking in her own garden. Her neighbor in Akarp in southern Sweden, a lawyer, demands 15,000 kroner ($2,000) in damages for her previous smoking plus another 2,000 kroner ($280) every time she lights up in the future, The Local reported. She has received a district court summons to respond to his complaint. It makes me sad and angry, the 49-year-old single mom told Aftonbladet. Should somebody else be able to control my life?The woman said she has already made concessions to her neighbor's dislike of cigarette smoke, including picking...

PRESIDENTIAL hopeful Barack Obama is trying to quit smoking. There are, of course, many good reasons to. He will significantly reduce his own risk of serious disease and that of those around him by not smoking. But clearly, one of the reasons Obama wants to quit now — beyond pressure from his wife — is that it would be widely perceived as unseemly and inappropriate to have a smoker in the White House. Smoking has become a marginalized and often stigmatized behavior, a sign of personal weakness — which just won't do in a presidential candidate these days. A once-social...

Last year a primary care trust announced it would take smokers off waiting lists for surgery in an attempt to contain costs. In this week's British Medical Journal, two experts go head to head over whether smokers should be refused surgery. Denying operations is justified for specific conditions, argues Professor Matthew Peters from the Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Australia. Professor Peters says that smoking up to the time of any surgery increases cardiac and pulmonary complications, impairs tissue healing, and is associated with more infections. These effects increase the costs of care and also mean less opportunity to treat...

Pregnant women's nicotine may pass through placenta and reach fetus Future smokers may be programmed in the womb to take up the habit later in life, research published on Tuesday said. Scientists in Australia have discovered that children of women who smoked during pregnancy were more likely to become smokers than other youngsters. They suggest nicotine from cigarettes passes through the placenta and may act directly on the developing brain of the unborn child. "Our findings suggest a direct effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on young adults' development of regular smoking and provide yet another incentive to persuade pregnant...

The winds of change are blowing through Nevada - and taking with them the cigarette smoke that circulates inside many Carson City bars. Starting Dec. 8, smoking will be banned in bars that serve food and in restaurants, in addition to several other public and retail buildings. Approved by voters Tuesday, the ban came as a shock to some business owners who worry what the restriction will do to their customer base. Public officials are unsure about penalties for defiance, or who will enforce the ban. Non-smokers are savoring the day when their meal won't come with a side of...

A woman in Orange County, Fla., was injured when she ignited a fire while smoking a cigarette as she filled her car with gas, according to Local 6 News. Police said the woman was pumping gas at a Race Trac near the University of Central Florida when a cigarette butt sparked the fire. Flames burned the gas pump and set her car on fire. "The car is virtually ruined," a fire official at the scene said. "(It happened) just by doing something stupid by smoking while fueling her car." Signs near the gas pump said "no smoking." The woman will...

GRAND RAPIDS -- Spectrum Health and Saint Mary's Health Care will require all their employees to not use tobacco at any time during their work shift beginning January 1. The staffs of both hospitals will need to arrive without smelling of smoke, and they can't use any tobacco products until they leave hospital property after their shift. Metro Health is also joining in the Smoke-Free Work Day Every Day campaign. In 2003, the Grand Rapids hospitals became the first in the country to jointly declare their hospital campuses smoke-free. Today, more than 30 Michigan hospitals have smoke-free campuses. This...

SEATTLE -- Non-tribal casinos have already lost tens of millions of dollars because of Washington’s new indoor smoking ban. A new financial study, conducted by our own KIRO Team 7 Investigators, discovers taxpayers could loose millions as well. Card-rooms, charity bingo halls, and some bars and restaurants are required to report financial information to the state every year. The state hasn't had a chance to look at the figures since the smoking ban took effect. I have. It looks like "no smoking" means economic devastation for the non-tribal gaming industry. If there was ever any doubt that gamblers are also...

Following are actual statistics reflecting examples of the negative impact upon individual businesses following the recently instituted smoking ban ordinances, effective in Springfield, Illinois and surrounding unincorporated Sangamon County this September 15, 2006 (less than two weeks ago). When small businesses account for about two-thirds of our country's economic growth and new jobs, it is difficult to comprehend elected officials' reasoning in voting to implement an intrusive ordinance which will hurt those same business owners. A restaurant owner who does not permit smoking will see it as a violation of his property rights if a coalition uses the political...

Delaware County's ban on smoking in most work places has become a problem for some nursing homes, which are both work places for employees and homes for the residents. The smoking ordinance does not prevent people from smoking in their homes, but it does ban smoking in most public buildings and work spaces. If a nursing home bans smoking, they could lose federal funding for failing to comply with regulations, but if they allow smoking they could face fines or a lawsuit from the county health department, officials said. Federal regulations state that if a nursing home changes its...

Churchill Downs could be hurt financially if it is forced to go completely smoke free, a company official said Wednesday. Kevin Flanery, Churchill Downs Inc.’s vice president for national public affairs, told a Louisville Metro Council committee considering a new, tougher smoking ban, that the race track is already facing heavy competition from Indiana and from computer and telephone betting services.And he said the company’s experience at a Florida track shows some people will stop betting when a smoking ban takes effect. But the former head of the Greater Louisville Medical Society testified that his group favors a complete...

A private smokers club in Smiths Falls challenged Ontario's indoor smoking ban with its grand opening Friday — and Ontario officials did not brave the fumes to attend. Instead, the club's founder was charged under the province's Smoke-Free Ontario act the day before it opened. Since Ontario's indoor workplace and public smoking ban went into effect, ashtrays and cigars have been illegal in bars. The grand opening of Do' Little's pub as a club for members of a private smokers association took place at noon at the Comfort Inn on Centre Street in Smiths Falls, about 65 kilometres south of...

Park Ridge aldermen will resume discussion of the city's public smoking ban, following complaints from three restaurant owners that their businesses have been adversely affected by it.The restaurant owners spoke briefly to the City Council Monday night, prompting Mayor Howard Frimark to ask the aldermen if the smoking ban should be brought back before the Procedures and Regulations Committee. Alderman Jeannie Markech agreed that it should, and made a motion for the discussion. Eight aldermen voted in favor of the issue going back to committee and five voted against. One alderman was absent.The next meeting of the Procedures and Regulations...

There have been a bunch of books about the mistakes made after the American invasion of Baghdad, George Packer's Assassin's Gate and Thomas Ricks' Fiasco being the two best in my opinion.Yesterday, the Washington Post published an excerpt from Rajiv Chandrasekaran's effort. He was their bureau chief there for a few years and his book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, will be released tomorrow.I haven't read the book, but the excerpt is as damning as anything could be. It outlines how people were recruited to serve in the Coalition Provisional Authority, the group that ran...

Jobs are being eliminated by special interest activist organizations Now that air quality test results by the likes of the American Cancer Society are proving that the secondhand smoke kills argument is completely fabricated. http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2004/04/american-cancer-society-test-results.html It's time for lawmakers to investigate why this fallacy has permeated the local government debate.....and specifically who is funding and spreading that false information. http://www.rwjf.org/about/founder.jhtml The "who" is in large part the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. And since RWJF is an affiliate of the Johnson & Johnson Company (the manufacturer of competing nicotine product interests Nicoderm & Nicoderm CQ), it stands to reason that the...