09 juin 2009
Newport cigarettes ads
23 avril 2009
Chesterfield cigarettes
30 juin 2008
No smoking in Amsterdam
LONDON -- Starting July 1, the Netherlands will banish tobacco smoke from restaurants and all other public places. But in a bizarre twist, patrons of certain coffee shops where marijuana is sold over the counter can still light up their cannabis joints.
Possessing the weed is illegal in the Netherlands, but smoking it is tolerated.
Owners say the tobacco ban -- an increasingly widespread trend in Europe -- could be a threat to the specially licensed coffee houses, because patrons traditionally prefer their cannabis joints mixed with tobacco.
"As this is a ban on tobacco smoke, most coffee shops will allow customers to smoke pure weed, but not tobacco, and this will be potentially really difficult to regulate," said Lorna Clay, manager of the Cannabis College in Amsterdam, a nonprofit organization that distributes information about cannabis usage.
"Will the staff have to watch people make their joints to be sure no tobacco has been used?" Clay said some of Amsterdam's 226 coffee shops have invested in new kinds of pipes and vaporizers to encourage pure cannabis use.
But she said other coffee house owners have no intention of stopping customers from smoking mixed joints.
These owners argue that the city's renowned coffee shops are one of the main reasons many tourists visit.
The new law comes on the heels of another change in what's thought to be a major Dutch tourist draw -- legalized prostitution.
The sex trade is regulated and is mostly confined to red-light districts.
City officials announced last year that they would tighten rules in an effort to stop money laundering and trafficking in women.
Officials began shutting the famous brothels
that display lingerie-clad women in shopfront windows, and there are 400 window
brothels now, down from 478
in
20 juin 2008
Indonesian NGOs Sue President Over Tobacco Treaty
Cigarettes in Indonesia, the world's fifth
largest cigarette market, are among the cheapest in the world with a pack
costing around $1.
Four Indonesian NGOs filed a lawsuit against the president and parliament on Thursday for not signing a global tobacco treaty, saying the high level of tobacco use was forcing millions into poverty.
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) along with three other NGOs slammed the government for not taking stronger measures to increase cigarette prices while prices of basic needs such as food have risen after fuel prices were hiked nearly 30 percent in May.
Cigarettes in Indonesia, the world's fifth largest cigarette market, are among the cheapest in the world with a pack costing around $1.
Although smoking has taken a toll on the health of Indonesians and pushed millions further into poverty, Indonesia is reluctant to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) aimed at cutting cigarette consumption because of concerns about the developing country's economy.
The World Health Organization's FCTC aims to reduce tobacco consumption, including through a ban on advertising and promotion.
China, which is the world's largest cigarette producer, is among the 168 signatories to the treaty.
Indonesia's $8-billion tobacco industry is big business which provides jobs for 7 million people and contributes about 10 percent to the government's coffers.
"We demand the Indonesian president ratify FCTC because it can protect people from the bad impact of tobacco," Tulus Abadi, an anti-tobacco activist at YLKI, told reporters after the case was filed against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a Jakarta court.
"The majority of smokers are poor people who allocate more money for cigarettes than for education and food."
Most Indonesians smoke traditional clove cigarettes which were invented in the late 19th century to ward off illnesses.
Called "kretek" for the crackling sound they make when they burn, the cigarettes usually contain added flavours such as chocolate and dried fruits. Some taste sweet, others spicy, but they are all distinctly Indonesian.
Some big cities in Indonesia, including Jakarta, have banned smoking in public areas, but these local regulations are still not implemented, Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, an activist of the Jakarta citizens forum, told reporters.
26 mai 2008
World tobacco giant “Philip Morris” operated in Azerbaijan in Soviet period
Zagathala. Hafiz Heydarov – APA. The facts evidenced about the activity of world tobacco giant Philip Morris, in Azerbaijan during the Soviet period were identified in Zagatala Region of Azerbaijan, Jahangir Soltanov, Director of local Museum of History and Ethnography told APA Shaki-Zagatala bureau. 
The museum staff has already started to collect material evidences and photos related to the activity of Philip Morris, known for its Marlboro cigarettes, in Azerbaijan in 1970-80s. So far mechanical bracket clock, sunglasses and photos belonged to Philip Morris staff in Zagatala have been found and brought to the museum.
“This is interesting fact because Zagatala was one of few regions where Philip Morris the symbol of capitalist system, worked in association with the Soviet economy. We found things belonged to the Philip Morris cigarettes produced in the countries, which were removed from the map of Europe as a result of collapse of world socialist system”, said the director of museum. “It is notable that Philip Morris chose Zagatala for cultivation of Virginia tobacco. It proved ideas of German expert A. Ifon Plotto in 19th century about the fertile lands of Zagatala”. The director of museum said they were developing researches.
21 avril 2008
Cherokees comply with tobacco taxes
After years of violating a tobacco compact with the state,
Cherokee-licensed smoke
shops are being pressed to sell
properly taxed cigarettes with
in the Tulsa area, a Tulsa
World investigation shows.
Meanwhile, smoke shops licensed by the Creek Nation
continue to sell low-tax cigarettes in the Tulsa area without
a tobacco agreement with the
state. Tulsa, a high-tax zone,
requires an 86-cent compact
stamp.
The Tulsa World purchased
cigarettes last week at 22 area
smoke shops or stores. The
stores are affiliated with the
Cherokee, Creek and Osage
nations and are in Glenpool,
Sapulpa, Sand Springs, Broken
Arrow, Claremore and Tulsa.
Sixteen of the 22 stores
were selling cigarettes with a
low-tax stamp. That's 72 percent of the smoke shops surveyed.
Low-tax cigarettes are typically reserved for sale near the
Oklahoma state line so smoke
shops there can compete with
the tax rates of adjacent states.
Yielding to pressure from
the tribe and a recent arbitration ruling, the Cherokee-affiliated stores
Six out of seven Cherokee
smoke shops were using the
proper 86-cent stamp, the rate
set in a 2004 compact between
the Cherokees and the state.
Mike Miller, a spokesman
for the Cherokee Nation, said
the tribe was actively encouraging smoke shops to avoid
selling cigarettes from store to
store.
The tribe's tax commission
notified all Cherokee-licensed
smoke shops in a letter March
27 that that they could no longer engage in retail-to-retail
sales that would send cigarettes with low-value tax
stamps into other tax zones.
"Any retailer engaging in retail-to-retail sales after today
may be subject to suspension
of their license," the letter
states.
Miller said tribal tobacco retailers are getting the message.
"It shows that the licensees
have gotten the letter, understand what the letter means
and are acting accordingly,"
he said. "That's also what
we've found in our inspections."
The World's investigation,
however, found that a Cherokee-affiliated store at 1418 N.
Sheridan Road continues to
sell low-tax cigarettes in violation of the compact.
The 6-cent tax stamps used
by the smoke shop, First
American Tobacco Co., give it
a $3 to $4 advantage per carton over nontribal stores,
which must purchase cigarettes with a $1.03 stamp.