December 2011

<p>Several states and U.S. territories are weighing in on a lawsuit over proposed graphic cigarette warning labels that include a sewn-up corpse of a smoker and a picture of diseased lungs, saying the federal government should be allowed to require the labels for the &quot;lethal and addictive&quot; products.<br />
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The 24 attorneys general filed a friend of the court brief on Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington in support of the Food and Drug Administration’s challenge of a lower court ruling in the case.<br />
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We believe this lawsuit will go all the way to the Supreme Court.&nbsp; It is not about tobacco, as far as we are concerned, it is about our Constitution and the First Amendment.&nbsp; If this is allowed there will be the same graphic labels on liquor and fat foods or anything else that is deemed &quot;bad for you&quot;.&nbsp; Is this really what a free society wants, a nanny government?&nbsp; </p>

Bans do close businesses. Since Belgium introduced a smoking ban in pubs on 1 July over <b>2,000 public houses</b> <b>have had to close</b>. The figure is 40% up on the same period last year.<br />
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The anti’s lie.&nbsp; If a ban is being proposed in your state remember and contact your legislator bans are bad for business!<br type="_moz" />

Delaware – There is a trial going on that is debating the &quot;science&quot; on second hand smoke.&nbsp; As we have said many times Epidemology studies do not prove causation.&nbsp;
<p>Texas doctor John Dale Dunn, who maintained studies reflecting second-hand smoke presented a serious health hazard were scientifically flawed and based on &quot;cherry-picked&quot; statistics.<span class="aa"><br />
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We agree with Dr. Dunn.&nbsp; There may be a ruling next week.<br />
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<p>Two-thirds of Maryland voters support increasing the state&rsquo;s tobacco tax, according to a new poll from the Maryland Citizens&rsquo; Health Initiative, the group that pushed the dime-a-drink tax on alcohol last General Assembly session.<br />
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Of course, they do.&nbsp; Always better to tax the other fellow than yourself.&nbsp; On the other hand, how do we know the questionnaire wasn’t biased?&nbsp; We don’t.</p>

Christie’s Rockefeller Center was the host to auction Liz Taylor’s fabulous jewelry collection. At one point near the end, four hours into the bidding, someone in a group near the front of the mostly empty room decided to ignore New York’s draconian ban on smoking indoors and lit up a cigarette, taking at least one drag before being forced to put it out.<br />
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Too bad they only got a drag, they should have gotten at least two!<br />
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Bhutan banned cigarettes from the country, if you are caught smoking you go to jail.&nbsp; The public outcry has made the government rethink their position.<br />
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The young King smokes.&nbsp; Once again smoking is for the elite not the peasants, complete hypocrisy!<br />
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<p>San Fransciso – A city ordinance prohibits smoking only in common areas of apartment buildings, while a California law that takes effect Jan. 1 gives landlords the option of declaring an entire building a non-smoking property.<br />
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A decision by the Rent Board this week siding with smokers was meant only as a stopgap until the city finds a better strategy for enforcing the new law, said executive director Delene Wolf.<br />
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Kalifornia starts all this nonsense and then it spreads across the country – start preparing for battle.</p>
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&quot;Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma says lawmakers may seek passage of a statewide smoking ban before the nation’s attention turns to Indianapolis for the February Super Bowl.&quot;<br />
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They are rushing just because of the Super Bowl, they don’t think anyone attending doesn’t smoke?&nbsp; Call your legislator when the new session starts on January 4, 2012.<br />
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If you smoke cross off Brazil as a place to visit. Brazil has enacted a new law which requires all enclosed workplaces and public places to be smoke-free, bans tobacco advertising at point of sale, increases tobacco taxes and requires large health warnings on both sides of cigarette packs (current law requires graphic warnings covering the entire back of the pack, but no warning on the front of the pack). <br />
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Too bad, the anti-smoking movement is spreading now to Latin America. <br />
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This is a promo commercial about <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-joe-promo-smoking-video-2011-11">Joe Scarborough</a>.&nbsp; He smokes who knew?<br />