Fire Destroys Two Arturo Fuente Tobacco Warehouses

An early Tuesday morning fire burned down two large tobacco warehouses of Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia., the manufacturer of Fuente Fuente Opus X and Arturo Fuente cigars. The fire in Villa Gonzalez, near the company's main offices in Santiago, Dominican Republic, completely destroyed large inventories of aged tobacco and possibly caused smoke damage to some other nearby storage facilities.

"We don't really know how much tobacco we have lost," said Carlos Fuente Jr. in a telephone interview from the Dominican Republic today. "But it was a lot—a lot of tobacco."

Fuente Jr. declined to give any specific figures about the quantity or the dollar value of the tobacco lost. But, he said that it included bales of some irreplaceable tobacco that had been purchased in 1990 from a Connecticut grower and may have been harvested as long ago as 1960. Fuente Jr. said the tobacco was still being saved for some special projects. He added, however, that the bulk of the tobacco was regular filler leaves, and that there was very little wrapper tobacco in the burned buildings.

"It's just so sad. You save it. You wait. You save it some more. In my lifetime, we won't be able to recreate some of this tobacco," Fuente Jr. said.

He said that the company had been moving tobacco around to different warehouses in recent months to be sure that the leaves used in their products weren't all in the same place. But he admitted that fire would force them to cut back production for the next year, possibly even for two years. The company also makes cigars for the Ashton and J.C. Newman brands.

"At our current production levels, we just have to cut back so that we can maintain the consistency of our cigars," Fuente Jr. said. He added that they still had plenty of aged tobacco spread around other warehouses throughout the Dominican Republic, but the cutbacks were going to be necessary to ensure the consistency and quality of all the company's cigars.

Fuente Jr. said that Tabacalera A. Fuente production for 2011 was going to be in the range of 22 to 23 million cigars.

The company, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2012, has suffered nine fires during its history.

"Thank God, every one is okay, and no one was hurt," Fuente Jr. said. "So, we're doing pretty well. You just hate to see all that hard work lost."

Tobacco display ban set for spring

A ban on displaying cigarettes in shops will not begin until next spring at the earliest, the health minister has said.
Edwin Poots wants to introduce regulations barring the tobacco products from view in stores and scrapping vending machines.
Mr Poots said: "Despite all the available evidence on the harm caused by smoking, hundreds of children and young people are still taking up this life-limiting habit each year. By removing displays of tobacco products from view in shops, and preventing children from accessing them through vending machines, we are building upon measures already in place aimed at reducing the prevalence of smoking."
Shop owners have highlighted the time it will take them to be ready for the new legislation. There are also legal challenges to the equivalent regulations in England.
Mr Poots said the ban will not commence in Northern Ireland until next spring at the earliest. Vending machine sales should end from February 1 next year.
In March 2009 the Assembly approved the ban on the display of tobacco items in shops in Northern Ireland. Then health minister Michael McGimpsey wanted to introduce the prohibition in 2010 but the DUP argued for a delay to 2013 to give retailers time to fund changes to their premises.
Following delays caused by ongoing legal action, England and Scotland are now proposing an introduction date of April 6 2012 for large stores and April 6 2015 for small stores. Wales has yet to announce a new date. The Republic of Ireland introduced a display ban and further restrictions on underage access to vending machines from July 1 2009.
The latest survey results available show that almost 9% of 11 to 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland are regular smokers.

Tobacco companies tout orbs' ease of use, lower nicotine doses

Bite-size dissolvable "orbs" that look like breath mints and melt in your mouth are the tobacco industry's latest attempt to fight falling U.S. cigarette sales.

Charlotte is one of two test markets for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc.'s newest products: dissolvable, smokeless tobacco lozenges that come as orbs, sticks or strips.

The products all contain less nicotine than cigarettes, between 0.5 and 3 milligrams instead of 12 to 15. And, Reynolds spokesman David Howard said, they meet a "societal expectation."

"There's no secondhand smoke, no spitting and no cigarette butt litter," Howard said.

But health officials still worry about the risks of smokeless options. Smokeless tobacco users may not get lung cancer, health experts say, but they risk mouth cancer, gum disease and tooth loss. Prenatal dangers for pregnant women also still exist.

"There are no safe tobacco products," said Matt Carpenter, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina who is researching the effect of smokeless products on smoking habits.

Huntersville, N.C., resident Joey Hodge, who has smoked for almost five years, sees the appeal of smokeless products that won't be as tough on his lungs or make him smell like smoke. But the 20-year-old isn't sold on Reynolds's newest offering.

Grants promote tobacco-free activities

A provincewide movement to promote a tobacco-free culture is gaining momentum in York Region.
Helping fuel the movement is a new grant program. Non-profit sport and recreation clubs, leagues, teams and organizations can apply for grants up to $2,000 if they submit a plan to develop, implement or enhance and promote a tobacco-free policy. The application deadline is Sept. 15.
Administered by the York Region Community and Health Services with provincial funding, the money can be used for educational and promotional activities to help increase the awareness of tobacco-free sport and recreation.
It means everyone taking part in a sport or recreational activity doesn’t use tobacco products and participants, spectators, coaches and leaders don’t smoke, snuff, dip or chew tobacco while participating in the organization’s activities, York Region public health nurse Samiha Versi said.
The policy can be flexible and plans can be individualized by each group.
“The key is education and awareness,” she said.
The Markham Irish Rugby Club developed a smoke-free policy last year and has since incorporated a smoke-free logo on its rugby shirts.
Board president Pat Hodgins said the club was prompted to develop the initiative as a result of the Play, Live, Be...Tobacco-Free program.
The club’s policy states if young people have not used tobacco products by the age of 18, they most likely will never start.
The prohibition, which includes smokeless tobacco, applies to players, coaches, trainers, managers and game officials during games and other club-sponsored activities.
It’s the club’s view that encouraging a smoke-free environment is a healthy life choice and one that’s particularly beneficial with helping athletes achieve peak performance, Mr. Hodgins said.
The club isn’t alone in going tobacco-free.
The Vaughan-based Ontario Soccer Association recently adopted a similar policy and the York Region Soccer Association is on the cusp of developing its own as well.
A policy is about best practices as opposed to actual enforcement, association executive committee president Russ Turnbull said.
It’s also one of many things to achieving a gold certification for Club Excellence Awards, a provincewide recognition program for clubs that have proven “best practices” and offer a safe, healthy and rewarding environment for all participants.
So far, four of 15 York soccer clubs have received gold and more than half are actively working toward that standard, Mr. Turnbull said.
“It’s about showing respect to everyone at the game, including coaches, players, spectators,” he said. “We are trying to set standards here ... to teach best practices to kids.”
While there’s often resistance to change, Mr. Turnbull said most of the feedback about the policy has been positive.
For the Jr. A Newmarket Hurricanes, none of the players opposed it when the hockey club adopted a tobacco-free policy two seasons ago, head coach Brian Perrin said.
“It’s a pretty good thing,” he said.

Anti-tobacco bill to stub out consumers

A proposed anti-tobacco law will see Russian smokers paying significantly more to light up, with key Ministries looking to reduce smoking numbers and smoking related illness.
Russia’s Health Ministry and Social Development Ministry have jointly introduced an anti-tobacco bill for discussion which will see tobacco excises rise 470%, and make the excise component of the price consumers pay for cigarettes more than 50%. The move will see the minimum price for a packet of cigarettes jumping from the current 17 roubles to as much 60 roubles.
Russia’s cigarette tobacco companies are bracing for the hit. About 56% of Russian men and 16% women smoke, with 22% of them smoking at least 1 packet daily, according to the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre. Kommersant reports that the average outlay of about 500 roubles per month could climb to nearly 2000, or 10% of an average Russian salary, if the law goes ahead.

While the intention of the bill is to restrict Russian smokers with higher price and push them to quit smoking, with an attendant long term reduction in outlays for smoking related illnesses, experts say that the move could spur illegal tobacco businesses. Vyatcheslav Bobkov, head of the All – Russian centre for life quality told Kommersant that people reducing outlays on other consumer items was also likely.

Brett Butler sides with Surgeon General, cuts out tobacco

Reno Aces' manager Brett Butler quit using tobacco partly because he didn't want to get throat cancer. Fifteen years later, it happened anyway.
In the winter of 1995, Butler developed a sore throat. In May of 1996, the former Southeastern Oklahoma State University star was diagnosed with cancer of the tonsils.
Butler said he dipped snuff almost daily while playing minor league baseball.
“I started in A ball,” said Butler, whose team is in Oklahoma City for a four-game series with the RedHawks. “I got two or three hits and dipped for about 2½ years.”
Butler said he quit not long after he arrived in the big leagues when a 10-year-old boy told him that he dipped snuff because Butler did.
“I relished being a positive role model, so I told that little boy that if he promised me that he would quit, I would quit,” Butler said Wednesday before the Aces' game with the RedHawks.
“I haven't had a dip since. I also quit because I didn't want to get throat cancer, ironically enough.”
Butler played 17 seasons in the major leagues with five different clubs. He is a former All-Star and finished his career with .290 batting average and 2,375 hits.
Butler was diagnosed with cancer near the end of his major league career while he was playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After surgery and intensive treatment to combat the disease, Butler returned to finish the '96 season for the Dodgers and played one more year before retiring.
Doctors told Butler that his tobacco use might have caused the throat cancer but it's uncertain.
“I tend to think it probably was, and that is what I preach,” he said.
Tobacco use has always been part of the culture of baseball and still is today, Butler said.
When he was using, Butler said he rarely dipped in the offseason. It was only when he put on the baseball uniform that he felt a need to take a dip.
Tobacco use is banned in baseball's minor leagues but not in the major leagues. Butler said that makes the tobacco ban difficult to enforce, especially at the Triple-A level where players often move back and forth from the major leagues.
“They go to the big leagues they can (use tobacco), then they go down and they tell them they can't,” he said. “I've got a guy 37-years-old, and you are going to tell him he can't dip.
“I know what they are trying to do. I understand what they are trying to do, but it's hard to enforce when you've got guys that have the ability to do it a the big league level and they come down here and they have been dipping their whole lives. It's kind of a catch-22.”
Players in the minor leagues will sneak around and use tobacco anyway, Butler said.
“I tell them what it's done to me, that it could have been a contributing factor, but a lot of times guys don't listen until it hits the house,” Butler said.
“Guys on this team know that I had throat cancer from dipping, and some guys still have done it. The bottom line is until it hits them directly, they really won't take inventory of it.”
Butler, 54, also has recovered from prostate cancer. Butler is in his third season as manager of the Aces, but his ultimate goal, just like his players, is to make the major leagues.

Tobacco compliance checks reduce underage use

In the United States about 3,450 young people between the ages of 12 and 17 will smoke their first cigarette today and around 850 of them will become daily smokers. That's according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The battle to stop underage smoking is being fought on many fronts, including making sure businesses don't sell tobacco to people under age 18.

The North Platte Police Department recently did a tobacco compliance check of 16 local retailers to see if they are complying with the law prohibiting sales to minors.

"One of our goals is to increase compliance with policies prohibiting sales to minors," said Community Connections executive director Jayna Schaaf. "The police department helps meet this goal by conducting compliance checks."

Studies show that enforcing laws against Esse cigarette sales to kids through compliance checks can significantly reduce youth smoking, Schaaf said.
During a compliance check underage "undercover" agents are sent into stores to try and buy tobacco products, according to Jason Gale, investigator with the North Platte police department.

"The compliance checks remind clerks and store managers they need to watch what they are doing when it comes to checking identification and watching for fake IDs," Gale said. "Until we have 100 percent compliance, I'm not going to say the checks are a success."

Of the 16 businesses targeted, three failed the check, Gale said.

An earlier check in April also netted three violations.

"This time we went to every place we didn't hit in April," Gale said. "So we have checked every place that sells tobacco in North Platte."

Compliance checks are funded with help from a grant awarded to Community Connections by Nebraska Health and Human Services System/Tobacco Free Nebraska as a result of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

"Clerks know we will be doing checks," Gale said. "It keeps them on their toes. Until we reach 100 percent compliance, we have work to do."

Detective Stole Cash and Cigarettes, Complaint Charges

Late last month, a longtime Bronx detective showed up at a home in Fordham Heights around midnight, wearing a New York Police Department jacket and flashing a badge and a piece of paper he said was a search warrant, according to a criminal complaint.
But he was not on police business, according to the federal complaint, unsealed on Tuesday. He entered the home to rob it, prosecutors said.

Once inside the home, the detective, Kyron Collins, searched widely, forcing a closet open with a knife and upturning a mattress, which revealed some $7,000 in cash, according to the complaint. Detective Collins took not only the money, but also several bags full of cartons of Newport cigarettes, according to the complaint.

The authorities also arrested two men who they said were accomplices of Detective Collins’s during the robbery, which occurred on July 26 on Walton Avenue. They were all arrested on federal robbery charges, among others.

The criminal complaint accuses the two men and Detective Collins, who is 39 and a 16-year veteran of the force, of a robbery conspiracy that began in October and was aimed at vendors who sell black-market cigarettes.

Around the time the conspiracy began, the Police Department began to see evidence of a larger pattern of crime against such vendors, according to the complaint. In some instances, a group of people pretended to want to buy contraband pall mall cigarettes, only to then rob the sellers. But in more than one instance, the robbers “pretended to have a search warrant for the victims’ residences,” according to the complaint.

New York is home to a thriving black market of untaxed cigarettes, which street vendors sell for about $7 a pack, half of what a properly taxed pack may cost at a newsstand.

In the complaint, Charles J. Mulham of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said footage from a surveillance camera placed Detective Collins near the scene of the robbery on July 26. Footage from a second surveillance camera, in a livery cab, showed the two men charged as accomplices loading the cab with bags of cigarettes apparently taken from the house, the complaint said.

Detective Collins, of the 52nd Precinct, appeared in United States District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday and entered a plea of not guilty, his lawyer, Eric Siegle, said.

Mr. Siegle declined to discuss the case but called Detective Collins a “good detective” who has had “an impeccable career” with the Police Department.

Detective Collins was released on a bond. The two other men arrested, Juan Carlos Arvelo and Ammar Alkamel, were also released on bond.

Cigarettes: the dark side of gender equality

You've come a long way, baby," ran the 1968 Virginia Slims advertising slogan, and so women had. Increasingly likely to attend university and enter the fulltime workforce, women in the late 1960s were proving that biology is not destiny, that a woman could do anything a man could.

Unfortunately, that extended not just to education and work, but also to the freedom to choose bad habits. So many women took up smoking, to the point where, by the time Virginia Slims cigarettes were introduced, 38 per cent of Canadian women smoked. This still paled in comparison to the 61 per cent of men who smoked, but it represented a sea change, since not very long before, the smoker's lounge, like much else, had been seen as the exclusive domain of men.

Indeed, at the turn of the century, smoking was considered a sign of "loose morals" in women, and women could be - and were - fired and arrested for lighting up. The relaxation of such outdated proscriptions represented a kind of liberation, and something on which Virginia Slims and other tobacco companies capitalized. So we produced a generation of female smokers to join their male counterparts, in the workplace and the home - and in hospitals and cemeteries.

As it turns out, freedom to smoke has been particularly tough on women. Women who smoke have double the risk of lung cancer as male smokers, and now a newly published study suggests they are also at elevated risk of coronary heart disease.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota and Johns Hopkins University, assessed 86 previous studies involving four million subjects. And it found that women who smoke face a 25-per-cent higher risk of developing coronary heart disease than do male smokers.

Furthermore, the excess risk faced by women increases by two per cent each year, which means long-term female smokers are at dramatically increased risk as compared to long-term male smokers. And as bad as that sounds, it may be underestimating the risk to women, since men tend to smoke more cigarettes than women.

The researchers aren't clear as to why women are at greater risk, though they surmise it could be the result of women taking in more toxins while smoking. But whatever the reason, it's clear that addiction to cigarettes is not liberation, but bondage.

Women have clearly got that message, as smoking rates have decreased substantially. Although there remain concerns about smoking among adolescent girls, smoking rates for women in Canada have decreased from 38 per cent in 1965 to just 17.4 per cent in 2010. This also compares favourably to the 24.2 per cent of men who smoked in 2010, though men's smoking rates have decreased much more substantially.

But those numbers, we hasten to repeat, are Canadian. Things are very different in other parts of the world, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. Much like Canada a century ago, few women in developing countries smoke, and so, much like Canada 50 years ago, tobacco companies are courting young women.

According to the World Health Organization, a number of developing countries have experienced an increase in the number of female smokers even while the number of male smokers declines. The WHO estimates that the number of female smokers worldwide will double by 2025; this will add substantially to developing countries' health care costs and cost many women their lives.

Consequently, it's important that these countries implement aggressive anti-smoking campaigns, and that at least some of the campaigns be directed specifically at young women. Let them know they've come a long way, baby, and shouldn't go back to bondage of any sort.

Cigarette makers sue over warnings

Above is one of nine new required warning labels on cigarette packs.
Lorillard, the maker of Newport cigarettes, said that it and three other tobacco companies sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday seeking to stop the agency from putting new warnings on camel cigarettes.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, Greensboro, N.C.-based Lorillard said in a statement. The company said it was joined in the complaint by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Commonwealth Brands and Liggett Group.

Lorillard seeks a preliminary injunction to halt the effective date of the FDA regulation, which requires packs, cartons and advertising to display graphic warning labels by Sept. 22, 2012. The warnings will be accompanied by pictures of rotting teeth or damaged lungs to deter smokers.

"The regulations violate the First Amendment," Floyd Abrams, a lawyer representing Lorillard said in the statement. "The notion that the government can require those who manufacture a lawful product to emblazon half of its package with pictures and words admittedly drafted to persuade the public not to purchase that product cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny."

A telephone message left with the FDA's office of public affairs was not returned.

Chicago Nursing Home Resident Dies After Smoking Accident

Our Chicago nursing home neglect attorneys know that placing a loved one in a nursing home is a hard thing to do. The hard choice is typically weighed against the peace of mind that comes with knowing that the nursing home will provide your loved one with the support and care that you as an individual or family may not be able to provide given daily time constraints and lack of facilities.

Many Illinois long-term care facilities are free of violations and have a proven record of providing sufficient care to residents. These homes operate above minimum staffing levels and properly train staff to care for residents. However, unfortunately, not all nursing home facilities are as prudent about their care as others. Many put profits before people and operate at minimum staffing levels to save money. When there are not enough employees to properly care or monitor residents, accidents can occur.
The Chicago Tribune reported today on a 62-year-old man in a Northside Rogers Park Chicago nursing home who suffered severe burns while smoking. The resident was in a wheelchair, and, after being left on an outside patio, lit up a cigarette and placed his lighter in his pocket. The 62-year old continued to smoke his cigarette when his clothes, unexplainably, lit on fire. The man in his wheelchair and another resident tried to suffocate the fire to no avail. The fire was finally put out with the use of a fire extinguisher, but not before the man had suffered first and second degree burns. The man was rushed to nearby hospitals where he was pronounced dead from his injuries.
Although the circumstances surrounding this nursing home death have not been revealed, we know that many times preventable deaths occur when residents are not properly supervised. Our Illinois nursing home neglect lawyers have helped many families following nursing home burn cases like this one. For example, we reached a $1.5 million settlement against one nursing facility after it violated the Nursing Home Care Reform Act and did not monitor a monitor a mentally impaired resident who burnt himself while smoking. In another case we helped a family reach a $900,000 settlement against a facility who did not monitor one resident’s unauthorized smoking, resulting in his death.
If you or someone you care for has suffered some injury like this from nursing home neglect, let us help you seek justice for your loved one and your family. We offer free consultations so that you can share your story and learn about how we might be able to help you take legal action.

Old Orchard Beachshould kick beach smoking habit

As the Old Orchard Beach Town Council gets ready to discuss a perfectly reasonable ban on smoking at Maine's busiest beach, let's get one argument out of the way: No one has a right to smoke on a beach, or in any other public place.
Yes, cigarettes are legal and yes, the decision whether or not to light up is a matter of personal choice, but no – once smoke drifts away from the smoker toward someone else's nose, it's not the smoker's choice anymore. The community has every right to limit where and when someone can smoke.

Outdoor smoking bans are somewhat new, but they still provide an opportunity to recycle arguments that were unsuccessfully marshaled to defeat indoor bans a decade ago.

Smokers and their supporters would like to turn the argument into something that it is not – a civil liberties issue. It is a public health issue, and even though smokers use a legal product, that doesn't give smokers any right to do something that puts other people's health at risk.

It's legal to own a dog, too, but in most circumstances you can't bring one into a restaurant or onto a public beach. It's the same concept here.

Most nonsmokers see secondhand smoke as a nuisance and would be happy not to have to deal with it. But for people with asthma or other lung ailments, even a small amount of tobacco smoke is too much and can trigger a reaction. Why should someone's right to smoke outweigh another's right to breathe?

Another argument that is sure to be trotted out again will be the claim that smoking bans are bad for business. Tourists won't want to come to Maine if they can't light up here, they claim, so the rest of us should just hold our noses.

This is not what businesses experienced after indoor smoking was banned in restaurants, bars and other public places. It turns out, smokers go out to eat and socialize, not to smoke, so they find a way to satisfy their habit without staying home. And people who couldn't or wouldn't put up with smoky establishments came back when everything became smoke-free.

Tourists come to Maine for the beautiful beaches, not because it's a convenient place to have a cigarette. If the town bans smoking on the beach, smokers will still find a way to smoke, and everyone will be able to enjoy themselves even more.

A memorial for smoking Joe

This Year writer and director of the highly successful Rocky franchise Sylvester Stallone, was inducted into the international boxing hall of fame in the non participant section. As a lasting memorial to the Rocky Phenomenon there is a statue of the fictional character which is located in Philadelphia. I have no problem with Sylvester Stallone being inducted into the hall of fame because of his effect on a dying sport in the late 70’s, however the fact that a lasting memorial exists for a fictional character, and yet does not exist for “Smoking Joe Frazier” who is basically the symbol of the now famous Philadelphia spirit, is an extreme over sight that must be corrected.

In my opinion, I think the Rocky films are loosely based around Joe Frazier. Joe Frazier even worked in a meat packing plant as the Rocky character did in the first and second installments of the film. My point is, Joe Frazier would have existed without the Rocky films, but the Rocky films may not have existed without Joe Frazier.

Joe Frazier is responsible for a huge piece of world boxing history. The Philadelphia heartened spirit would not have existed without him. the Ali’s legend would have been largely been diminished without him, and so would Foreman’s to a certain extent. Even Howard Cosell would not have his famous “down go Frazier” line, which is one of the most famous lines in sporting history.

The point I’m trying to make is, in most people’s eyes, Joe Frazier is probably in the top 10 heavyweights of all time. He however does not seem to get the credit of other iconic boxers, or other sportsmen of the 20th century. In my opinion this must be rectified as soon as possible. Let’s not forget he fought in arguably one of the most important fights in boxing history, and was the first person to defeat the great Muhammad Ali. And in my opinion, delivered the hardest punch not to knock out a fighter in the 1971 showdown, in New York’s Madison Square Garden I believe he fought the most important trilogy of fights in boxing history, and if anyone deserves a statue or a lasting memorial in their city of origin it is “Smoking Joe Frazier”. I hope that all boxing fans join with me and put pressure on the city of Philadelphia to rectify this glaring anomaly.