Birmingham Smoking Ban Supported

Alabama's Secretary of State, Beth Chapman, was among dozens who spoke about Birmingham's smoking ban, Tuesday. People filled the city council chamber to voice their opinions, heavy hitters and average citizens alike. The measure passed unanimously, with amendments. While the majority of attendees stood up to show their support for putting out cigarettes in public places, several had major issues with the plan.

Tobacco Imports Increased in Saudi Arabia

The heavy custom fees levied on tobacco did not reduce its imports which rose by about 57 percent last year compared to 2009 , business daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported Friday quoting a statistical report issued by the customs department. According to the report, Saudi Arabia imported 57,838 tons of tobacco in 2011 valued at SR3.3 billion compared to the imports of 2009 which reached SR2.104 billion. Abdullah Al-Salman, member of the welfare committee to combat smoking, said this quantity was considered to be extremely large because the taxes on imports of tobacco were still low. “These taxes should be increased because the proceeds will be used to treat diseases caused by smoking,” he said.

Cigarettes Packagings, Tobacco Companies Rights

Registering a trademark gives the owner the right to exclude others from using it, but not the guaranteed future right to use it themselves, the federal government argues in its submission on the landmark plain packaging High Court case, lodged last night. In world-first legislation, the Gillard government is requiring that all cigarette packaging be drab green, with graphic health warnings. Cigarette companies, led by British American Tobacco Australia, are challenging the constitutional validity of the legislation, on the grounds that it acquires their intellectual property and trademarks without compensation. The government's case says this claim is not sustainable, because ''what an owner gains by registration of a trademark is … no more than a monopoly right to exclude others from using the mark without the owner's authority''.

Tobacco Companies Reduced The Employers

The sun appears to be setting on the era of high-dollar tobacco manufacturing jobs in Winston-Salem. It shouldn't be shocking news to the community that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s local workforce is shrinking yet again. The company has announced 19 job cuts since 1983 that have reduced the number of employees from 15,500 to 2,500. However, last week's start to the next round of workforce reductions appears to have struck more of a nerve than did major job cuts in 2003, 2008 and 2009. That's because, unlike previous job-cut announcements, Reynolds American Inc. specifically said pay rates are being evaluated. And they're more likely to fall rather than rise. The increasing presence of contract workers, which Reynolds has used for more than a decade, also has proved unnerving to employees who have contacted the Winston-Salem Journal. They declined to be identified out of fear of losing their jobs and/or severance package.

Tobacco Additives Toxicity Examined

Many people in Birmingham will pledge to quit smoking in the coming new year. They need to. More than a third of Alabamians smoke and that fact leads to higher health care costs for everyone in Alabama as well as a plethora of diseases that affect the smoker like cancer and heart disease. A review of the toxicity protocols used by Philip Morris in the Project MIX that analyzed the 333 plus additives to cigarettes was published by researchers at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California in San Francisco on December 20, 2011.