Smoking Ban Amendments

A clear message from Springfield City Council Tuesday: there will be no changes to the recently passed smoking ordinance. Council met Tuesday to take up discussions on possible amendments to that citywide ban. During the Council Luncheon, Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky opposed any changes to the recently passed ordinance. "If I'm alive and present, you're not going to have a unanimous vote," she said. Because it takes unanimous approval to make changes to any law, Mayor Pro-Tem Bob Stephens decided to end discussions and the meeting. Council members were set to hear about five different amendments requested by council members. Those are whether to allow smoking discount Hilton cigarettes in theatrical productions, some cigar bars, some tobacco shops, and veterans organizations like the VFW and American Legion Halls. The last is a repeal of the entire ordinance presented by Councilman Doug Burlison. Councilwoman Rushefsky says she's adamantly against changing what was passed by voters. "If there needed to be an exception, it should have been made to the voters and it still can be proposed to the voters." She says unless voters decide the smoking ordinance is not what they want, she will not impose her opinion.

Japan Tobacco Net Jumps 24%

Japan Tobacco Inc. reported a 24% increase in its fiscal second-quarter net profit on lower tax expenses.

The world's third-largest tobacco company by sales volume after Philip Morris International Inc. and British American Tobacco PLC also said it remains undecided about buying back its own shares to cushion the disruptive impact on the stock market unless full privatization is on the table.

Currently, the Japanese government is the company's biggest shareholder with a 50% stake.

The Marlboro Man and the Tobacco Industry

The Winston Man Dave Goerlitz spoke to about 50 people on the Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) Taylorsville Redwood Campus on October 26, 2011.

Goerlitz talked about the dangers of tobacco and how the industry affects children through advertising.

“The Marlboro Man can’t be here today because he’s…” Goerlitz points the microphone at the audience whose members responded with “Dead.”

Making about $100,000 a year, Goerlitz says that it was his job to make smoking look good for guys.

Goerlitz says that children are confused. They know that smoking is bad because it smells bad and teachers tell them it is bad, but when they see their parents smoking and ads that depict beautiful people doing adventurous things while smoking, they aren’t sure how to sort out the incongruities.

Ninety-three percent of tobacco users start using before they are 14 years old.

Vasquez Wants Smoking Restrictions

Councilman Fernando Vasquez wants the City Council to restrict smoking cigarettes at parks and public gatherings.

Vasquez requested the council consider the issue at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
“I really only want restrictions in public areas, like parks, or at special events, like Taste of Downey,” he said. “I don’t want any restrictions on private property. None at all.”

He mentioned an effort by the Kiwanis Green Team this month in which members of the team collected 4,000 cigarette butts at Downey’s Parks.

The Green Team is a group of environmentally concerned youth.

“I mean, the right of a child to breathe healthy air at a clean park should supersede the right of people to smoke around kids,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez’s efforts are sure to meet stiff resistance from Councilman Mario Guerra, who unsuccessfully tried to shoot down a similar effort in August. But the issue never came to vote because Vasquez was absent from the meeting.

Smoking Hookah Dangerous in Lebanon

What is known here in Lebanon as the Narjileh, also known as Hubble bubble, shisha, or Al Fakher tobacco hookah, has become an everyday way of leisure.

When you go to restaurants close by the Beirut sea shore, almost every table has two or more hookas being smoked.

The irony of the situation is that many smokers believe that smoking a narjileh is much lighter and therefore less harmful than the hazards of cigarette smoking:

It wouldn't take you long to find a Hubble bubble store, where you can buy pipes, tobacco, hoses, coal containers, and tongs. The latest trend is home delivery.
Even people under the age of 18 seem to be victims of the social pressure to smoke a hookah as a relaxing pastime with friends.