Health of active-duty and veteran populations with regard to tobacco-use

DoD and VA asked IOM to convene a committee to recommend ways for the two
agencies to work together to improve the health of active-duty and veteran populations with
regard to tobacco-use initiation and cessation. The agencies asked that the committee consider
the following:
• Identify policies and practices that might be used by DoD and VA to prevent initiation of
smoking and other tobacco use in the military.
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Combating Tobacco Use in Military and Veteran Populations
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12632.html
• Identify policies or potential barriers that might inhibit broader implementation of
evidence-based tobacco-use cessation care in DoD and VA.
• Identify opportunities for increased access to evidence-based programs for cessation of
smoking and other tobacco use in VA and DoD.
• Evaluate changes, including changes in policy, that could help to lower rates of smoking
and other tobacco use in military and veteran populations.
• Identify policies and practices that address unique tobacco-use prevention and cessation
needs of special populations in DoD and VA, including such populations as people who
have other substance-use or psychiatric disorders, people who have chronic medical
comorbidities, and women.
• Recommend research approaches to reducing initiation of tobacco use and promoting
cessation of tobacco use.
In response to that request, IOM convened the Committee on Smoking Cessation in
Military and Veteran Populations, which wrote this report.
COMMITTEE’S APPROACH TO ITS CHARGE
The committee held two information-gathering sessions with representatives of the DoD
TRICARE Management Activity (part of the Military Health System, MHS), the Air Force, the
Navy, the Army, VA, and veterans service organizations and with experts in smoking-cessation
programs and policies. In addition, literature searches were conducted, and information was
requested directly from DoD and VA.
To evaluate the current policies and programs systematically and provide guidance for
future directions for tobacco control in VA and DoD, the committee first identified what
constitutes the evidence base that forms the best practices; in general, these are successful
programs and approaches used in the general US population. The committee then attempted to
determine whether DoD and VA were using those best practices by reviewing published studies
of tobacco use in military and veteran populations; DoD and VA instructions, directives, and
regulations; and other information sources, including Web sites. If the best practices were not
being used, the committee identified possible obstacles to their implementation and made
recommendations for overcoming them from policy and programmatic perspectives. It also
developed a research agenda for DoD and VA.

Nicotine Cessation Tips

The Law of Addiction - The law of addiction, states "administration of a drug to an addict will cause
re-establishment of chemical dependence upon the addictive substance." Yes, just one powerful puff,
dip or chew and you'll be faced with again enduring up to 72 hours of nicotine detox, by far the most
challenging period of recovery. We are simply not that strong. Full adherence to the following simple
restatement of the law of addiction provides a 100% guarantee of success to all: no nicotine just one
day at a time ... "Never Take Another Puff, Dip or Chew."
Be Honest With You - Although the nicotine addict’s dopamine high is alert, not drunk or numb,
nicotine dependency is every bit as real and permanent as alcoholism or heroin addiction. An
external chemical has caused the brain reward pathways -- the mind’s priorities teacher -- to convince
the deep inner mind that regular nicotine feedings are the #1 priority in life, more important than family,
friends, eating, hostile weather, romance, health or life itself. Continuing use causes the brain to grow
millions of extra nicotinic receptors in at least eleven different regions. Known as tolerance, the brain
becomes hard-wired to function on ever so slowly increasing levels of nicotine intake. Why play
games? Treating a true addiction as though some "nasty little habit" capable of manipulation,
modification or control is a recipe for relapse. There is no such thing as "just one." Nicotine
dependency recovery truly is an all or nothing proposition.

Some tobacco farms grow

Farming, David Ferrell says, "is all I ever wanted to do."

At age 20, the recent Virginia Tech grad sees a good future in farming, even for tobacco, a crop that has sustained his family's farm in Charlotte County for several generations.

Despite the many uncertainties in tobacco, including declining U.S. smoking rates, rising tobacco taxes and regulation of the industry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Ferrell and his brother, Kevin, 24, are investing in tobacco production. They are following in the footsteps of their father, Timmy, 50, who is still active in the operation.

"When I finished school and made my decision about coming back to the farm, I thought about whether there was a future in tobacco, and I think there is," David Ferrell said. "Tobacco will always be grown. How much I don't know, but I do feel it has a future."

He describes the farm as "a true agribusiness" now. Unlike the smaller tobacco farms of 10 or 20 acres limited by federal quotas attached to the land, theirs is an unregulated operation increasingly using mechanization, and producing 150 acres of leaf for tobacco companies on a contract basis.

The Ferrells are among the farmers who have increased tobacco acreage in recent years, as other growers have left the business and overall tobacco acreage has declined in Virginia.

In the late 1990s, Virginia farmers produced more than 50,000 acres of the crop. This year, production of the two main types of tobacco grown in the state -- flue-cured in Southside Virginia and burley in Southwest -- is estimated at about 18,700 acres. That is down from about 19,000 in acres in 2008 and almost 29,000 acres in 2004, the year Congress ended a 70-year-old federal supplyand price-control program for tobacco.

"It is still a big part of the economy, especially in Southside, but it is a drastic cut from what it was," said Nelson Link, farm programs chief for the Virginia Farm Service Agency.

Now, some farmers foresee other pressures on their tobacco operations -- if not from FDA regulation of the industry, then from increases in federal and state cigarette taxes. The single largest federal tobacco tax ever took effect in March, increasing the per-pack tax to $1.01 from 39 cents.

"That [tax] will be more of an extended, long-term pressure over two or three years" on demand, said Jim Jennings, a Mecklenburg County tobacco farmer. Jennings, who grows about 120 acres of tobacco, said he figures that every pound of tobacco he produces generates $25 in taxes for the federal government. His earnings after expenses might be 50 cents per pound.

Jennings argues that more of the money should go into infrastructure, schools and health care in rural areas.

"In theory, the government wants none of its citizens to smoke, and I can understand that," he said. "But if they are going to get money to deter people from smoking, then the areas that produce tobacco will lose part of their economic engine."

Jennings and other farmers said they are unsure exactly what FDA regulation of tobacco products will mean for them. Congress passed legislation in June that for the first time gives the FDA authority to mandate changes in tobacco products and to oversee their marketing, with the goal of reducing disease and death from tobacco use.

The legislation doesn't give the agency control over tobacco farms. That remains with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But some farmers are wary.

"I compare it to an unfunded mandate," Jennings said. "I can't help but think there is going to be some type of compliance in the future that is going to cost [the farmer] money and that we won't be reimbursed for."

The Ferrells, too, say they are unsure exactly what FDA regulation will mean for their farm. Like other growers, they sell their crops to tobacco companies under contracts.

"You can put so many regulations on the companies that it will affect us, too," David Ferrell said.

FDA regulation could trickle down to the farm in many ways. For example, the agency could mandate reductions in nicotine content, or reductions in nitrosamines, a key cancer-causing agent in cured tobacco leaf. Pesticides could also become an issue.

"These are very important, complex questions that are going to have to be answered down the road," said Scott Ballin, a tobacco and health policy consultant who has worked with tobacco farmer and public-health groups on federal regulation issues.

The FDA is forming a scientific advisory committee for tobacco products, which will include a nonvoting representative of tobacco grower interests. Ballin said the representative should be someone who understands the scientific and economic implications of FDA policies for agriculture.

"We have been so polarized in tobacco control for so long, without understanding that at its heart, all tobacco products are agriculture-based," Ballin said. "There are a whole spectrum of things that need to be considered."

In Virginia, the number of tobacco farm operations has declined from more than 6,000 in 1997 to 895 in 2007, the last census of agriculture data available.

Some farmers have retired, thanks in part to several payment streams aimed at helping them make the transition out of the crop. That includes a $10 billion tobacco industry-financed buyout of federal tobacco quotas -- essentially licenses to grow the crop that were treated as assets to be bought out when Congress ended the federal tobacco program. The buyout is channeling about $667 million to more than 40,000 farmers and tobacco quota owners in Virginia through 2014. About half of that has been paid out, Link said.

For the farms that remain, such as the Ferrells, growing tobacco is increasingly about scale and efficiency.

Timmy Ferrell recalls growing only 20 to 25 acres on the family farm about 30 years ago. This year, the father-and-sons operation is producing 150 acres.

"It's gone to a volume crop," he said. "You have got to raise a lot of acres to make money."

During this year's harvest on the Ferrell farm, two mechanical tobacco harvesters, each steered by one man, maneuvered through the bright green tobacco fields, largely replacing the teams of laborers once required to harvest leaf by hand. The Ferrells also bought a conveyor system to unload tobacco leaf at their curing barns.

The automation means they can load a curing barn with several thousands pounds of tobacco in about two hours, compared with a fiveor six-hour process by hand labor.

Almost everything is mechanized now in the tobacco operation, said Timmy Ferrell, except for the process of topping, or breaking flowers blooms from the tobacco plants, which is still done by hand.

"We've increased in acres, but we've also became more mechanized," David Ferrell said. "You have to constantly look at ways to reduce your input costs and labor costs and also to produce a quality product. We're really trying to improve efficiency. It is truly an agribusiness now."

Tobacco Blow Back

When President Obama signed a law in June that limits the ability of tobacco companies to advertise, he was all but inviting a Constitutional challenge. And that's just what he's getting, now that several of the nation's largest cigarette makers have filed a federal lawsuit to block parts of the new law on First Amendment grounds.

The plaintiffs, which include Lorillard and R.J. Reynolds, aren't challenging the Food and Drug Administration's new authority to regulate tobacco products. Rather, the suit argues that the law goes too far in limiting commercial speech rights under the Constitution, especially since "the population has, for decades, been well informed of the harms of tobacco use and the government cannot demonstrate that the restrictions will further increase consumer awareness or reduce youth tobacco use."

Supporters of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act say it will reduce underage smoking, but that doesn't mean the law's censorship is Constitutional. The Supreme Court has previously rejected arguments for banning alcohol and tobacco ads in the name of protecting minors. In 2001 in Lorillard Tobacco Co. vs. Reilly, the Court struck down regulations restricting outdoor tobacco advertising in Massachusetts.

"The state's interest in preventing underage tobacco use is substantial, and even compelling, but it is no less true that the sale and use of tobacco products by adults is a legal activity," wrote Justice Sandra Day O'Connor for the majority. "[S]o long as the sale and use of tobacco is lawful for adults, the tobacco industry has a protected interest in communicating information about its products and adult consumers have an interest in receiving that information." Not much ambiguity there.

And there's also not much doubt that the new law hinders the ability of tobacco companies to communicate information to consumers, even when that information could lead to less harmful choices. Smokeless tobacco products aren't as dangerous as cigarettes because they contain fewer carcinogens and don't enter the lungs. Yet the law effectively prohibits companies from describing the relative health risks of different products. So a law that backers call a victory for public health actually prevents tobacco companies from informing consumers that switching to smoke-free nicotine products will reduce their health risks. Smokeless tobacco is not risk-free, but a public policy that pretends it is just as dangerous as lighting up is misleading and constitutionally suspect.

Lawmakers wanted to make a show of coming down hard on cigarette makers. It polls well. But the reality is that the government is addicted to tax revenue from Big Tobacco, which is why Congress gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products but not ban them. The new law is chock-full of loopholes and special favors. Flavored cigarettes are outlawed with the exception of the most popular flavor, menthol. And even if the cigarette makers are in full compliance with FDA content and labeling provisions, they receive no protection from tort liability, which is a bow to the trial bar.

It's easy to understand why Philip Morris supported the law and is not challenging it. Already the market leader, the Marlboro Man stands to benefit from rules that limit the marketing of competitors. We sympathize with sincere efforts to reduce smoking. But imposing overly broad commercial speech restrictions that impede competition from safer alternatives is the wrong way to advance public health.

Importer tries to get around clove smoke ban

The nation's top distributor of clove cigarettes is offering fans a new way to get their fix after the spice-flavored cigarettes are banned later this year — cigars.

The new filtered cigars — close to the size of a cigarette and flavored with clove, vanilla and cherry — allow Kretek International Inc., which imports Djarum-brand tobacco products from Indonesia, to avoid new federal laws banning flavored cigarettes other than menthol.

The ban on flavored cigarettes, which critics say appeal to teenagers, goes into effect at the end of September. It doesn't include cigars.

The difference? Cigarettes are wrapped in thin paper, cigars in tobacco leaves. While the cigars also are made with a different kind of tobacco, the taste is similar. The cigars come 12 to a pack, rather than 20 for cigarettes, but cost nearly half as much.

The ban is one of the first visible effects of a new law signed by President Barack Obama in June that gives the Food and Drug Administration wide-ranging authority to regulate tobacco, though it can't ban nicotine or tobacco outright.

The new law gives the FDA the power to ban other products like flavored cigars, but that hasn't happened yet.

Whether the cigars are truly different or just an attempt to circumvent the ban by making superficial changes is in the hands of the FDA, said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

"The key is the legislation gives the FDA the authority to respond to these types of frankly totally irresponsible actions," Myers said.

Myers joined executives from the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and the Amercian Legacy Foundation late last month urging the FDA to take a closer look at the issue.

Often associated with hippies and other bohemians, clove cigarettes may be the most well-known target of the ban. Some major cigarette makers experimented with mint- or chocolate-flavored blends earlier this decade, but many of those products are no longer made after coming under fire, accused of targeting children.

John Geoghegan, director of brand development for Moorpark, Calif.-based Kretek International, said the private company has been "puzzled about (the ban) since the very beginning" because clove cigarettes constitute less than 1 percent of cigarettes sold in the U.S.

"For people to say, 'Well, clove is a starter cigarette or a trainer cigarette' or something was just preposterous," Geoghegan said, citing company research about when and how consumers begin smoking.

Kretek International holds a 97 percent U.S. market share with its line of Djarum clove cigarettes, a staple of Indonesian smoking culture.

The U.S. market for clove cigarettes is about $140 million annually, with about 1.25 million clove smokers. Cloves have been imported to the U.S. since the 1960s and are mostly smoked by people younger than 30.

While Geoghegan said clove cigarettes make up about 65 percent of Kretek International's business, the ban is "damaging but not fatal" because of the company's other products like lighters and pipe tobacco.

Now, clove smokers are being forced to decide whether to switch to the new cigars, or quit. Many will likely stock up or try to buy product over the Internet.

And how the ban will work remains a point of contention for shop owners who sell clove cigarettes. But the FDA says the message is clear: Flavored cigarettes are banned, and the agency has the authority necessary to enforce the prohibition.

"So, what do we do with the stuff that's on the shelves? Who eats that? Is it legal to sell until it's gone or what?" asked Jim Carlson, owner of two CVille Smoke Shop stores in Charlottesville, Va., about 70 miles northwest of Richmond.

Carlson said he sells about 3,000 packs of the flavored cigarettes a year.

"You don't make a lot of money, but still it's income ... and it brings customers into the store," he said.

Lake Isabella, Calif., resident Terry Day, 42, used to drive 240 miles round trip to buy clove cigarettes when he lived in rural Valentine, Neb. He said he might try the cigars but was dubious about whether he would like them.

"I certainly don't like to be forced into that choice," said the clove smoker of 14 years. "I'm probably going to buy me enough to last until Oct. 1, then I'm just going to have to quit."

Tobacco Cos. Win Inches with Dollars

A battle for space is being waged at the back bars of convenience stores by tobacco companies' field sale force representatives, who are vying for every square inch of shelf space with promotional dollars, the Richmond Times Dispatch reported.

The Federal Trade Commission's latest report on cigarette sales, advertising and promotions, released last week, found major tobacco companies spent $9.2 billion on discounts to retailers and wholesalers in 2006, largely in return for shelf space, the report stated.

"It is amazing," Cigarettes Unlimited smoke shop owner Harold Price told the Dispatch on salespeople for tobacco companies. "They will argue over one pack on that rack: 'He's got one more pack than I do.'"

In an attempt to gain market share, the large tobacco companies are trying to introduce the same types of financial incentives on cigarettes as they do the smokeless tobacco and cigar brands that have been added to their product lines, Gary Poehlmann, vice president for sales at Chesterfield County-based Swedish Match North America, a producer of snuff, chewing tobacco and cigars, said in the report.

Altria Group, parent company to Philip Morris USA, John Middleton and UST, offers retailers a range of financial incentives to gain a variety of marketing advantages, spokesman Bill Phelps said in the report. Other big tobacco companies do as well, the report noted.

"We have to work where we are allowed as hard as possible," added Reynolds American spokeswoman Maura Payne.

"The major tobacco companies have really stepped up over the last 15 years or so and have become much more engaged in helping retailers grow their sales and profits in this category," Terry Kailey, 7-Eleven's category manager for tobacco products, told the Dispatch. "Topics of frequent discussions include promotional activities, new brand introductions, best-in-class merchandising techniques and important attributes of the products, such as freshness."

And Altria offers an online data system resource to retailers that tracks profits from the various products on their tobacco shelves, along with inventory management tools, the newspaper reported.

Swedish Match has a similar service, though its salespeople bring printed reports to the stores, rather than linking online, Poehlmann said, adding "It helps build a relationship."

The tobacco companies' incentives and resources help build bonds with both consumers and retailers, according to Dr. Alan Blum, director of the University of Alabama's Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society.

"They're building one-to-one relationships with customers and a much tighter one-to-one relationship with retailers," he told the newspaper.

The goal of these measures centers on customer service, retailers told the newspaper.

"They want people walking into your store to know the product they want is in stock, that it's fresh," Lou Sheetz, executive vice president of Sheetz Inc., said in the report. "If you adhere to their terms, about carding people, about the displays, then you get a discount on the wholesale price, which allows you to sell to customers for less."

Cigarettes rebound after big tax increases

When April 1 hit this year, smokers probably wished what they were seeing in stores was just an April Fools Day prank. But the higher prices for cigarettes were no joke.

April 1 was the day when the state sales tax increased to 30 cents on a pack and to $3 on a carton. On that same day, the federal sales tax went up to 62 cents on a pack and $6.20 on a carton. Combined, the taxes increased to 92 cents per pack and $9.20 per carton.

Managers and owners of local convenience stores and groceries say the response of smokers was predictable — both before and after April 1.

Nancy Baker, longtime manager of the Save-A-Lot Tobacco Shed in Danville, compares what happened just before the big increases took effect to what occurs when a snowstorm is forecast.

“When people hear that a big snow is supposed to be coming, they run in next door (to the Save-A-Lot grocery) to buy up milk, eggs, bread and other staples,” Baker said.

“In the weeks prior to when the higher cigarette sales tax hit on April 1, sales of cartons were booming as smokers wanted to buy as many cigarettes as they could at the pre-tax hike prices,” she said.

But on April 1 and for a few weeks after, cigarette sales dropped off.

“Sales slowed down for a while, and I fully expected that to happen,” she said.

However, in the last two months or so, sales have rebounded, said Baker.

“Sales have returned to the levels we had before the sales tax increases went into effect, at least in terms of volume, or the numbers of packs and cartons we have been selling.”

While she wouldn’t compare the actual monetary figures for before and after the tax increases, Baker indicated that those figures might be a little lower now because a lot of customers at the shed are buying cheaper brands.

“Many people are switching to the generic brands, which are considerably cheaper than the regular brands,” she said.

Other local stores that sell cigarettes have experienced the same sales patterns.

“We sold a lot of cartons right before April 1, but for the first three weeks after that, sales got slower,” said Steve Prewitt, owner of Battlefield Food Mart in Perryville.

Since then, however, cigarette purchases have picked up.

“Sales are back to where they were before the big sales tax increases went into effect,” he said. “I can’t tell any difference between now and a year ago as far as cigarette sales are concerned.”

Prewitt said he can tell a difference, though, in the brands that customers are buying.

“Some customers have gone from the regular major brands to the cheaper brands,” he said. “But the big tobacco companies, like Philip Morris, recognize that and are offering special discounts. Prices for Marlboro, for instance, are lower.”

Christina Hill, an employee at Chills Quick Stop on Lexington Road in Danville, said the lower prices for Marlboro and some other major brands have helped increase sales at her store in recent weeks.

“Lately, we’ve been selling cigarettes like crazy, and a big part of that has been because of the deals Marlboro and other major brands started offering in late July.”

David Finley, owner of Parksville Country Store, said the sale of generic brands has been the major reason that overall cigarette sales have returned to pre-April 1 levels.

“We did experience the same drop-off in cigarette sales everybody else did right after April 1, and we’re seeing the same rebound in sales everybody else has over the last several weeks,” he said.

“What’s brought the overall volume of our sales back has been the fact that many of our customers have switched to the generic brands,” he said. “But the volume of sales of the major brands has not rebounded all the way back yet, though some of them are starting to lower their prices.”

As overall sales have improved, so has the mood of customers, said Paul Chambers, owner of Chambers Marathon in Danville.

“They have calmed down and don’t talk about the tax increases anymore,” he said.

“But right before and after the state sales tax was increased, everybody was complaining to me about it, like I was the one that raised the taxes,” he said.

“I told them, ‘Don’t gripe at me. Go to Frankfort and gripe at the governor and legislature,’” he said.

Meanwhile, there apparently is little to gripe about in revenue-strapped Frankfort. The increase in the state sales tax on cigarettes has pumped up tax receipts.

According to the state Department of Revenue, cigarette sales tax receipts during the April-July period this year totaled more than $92 million, which is an increase of more than $34 million, or nearly 60 percent, over the $58 million in receipts recorded for the same four-month period in 2008.

Belleville man grows gigantic tobacco plants in his backyard

Al Brierly watched his father and grandfather toil on their Kentucky tobacco farms, so he wanted nothing to do with the family business after being discharged from the Army in the early '50s.

Nearly 60 years later, the Belleville retiree is giddy with excitement about four tobacco plants growing in his backyard.

"He sits out here (at a patio table) and drinks his coffee and admires his tobacco plant every morning," said Elaine Brierly, his wife of 52 years. "That's my competition. He doesn't sit with me in the kitchen anymore."

Elaine was referring to one plant in particular that towers above the rest. It's more than 10 feet tall with platter-size green leaves and dainty pink and white flowers shooting from the top.

"Everybody who sees it wants a seed," said Al, 83, a retired machine-shop foreman with International Lighting Manufacturing Co. "It's got a beautiful bloom on it."

Tobacco cultivation originated in the tropics, but today it's grown in subtropical and temperate regions. Most tobacco in the United States is grown in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and South Carolina.Al got reacquainted with tobacco last May, when he and Elaine traveled to Kentucky to visit family. His nephew's son, Charles Sparks, gave him five small plants.

"I just wanted to see if it would grow," said Al, who gave one plant to a neighbor and put the rest in his flower garden, under the watchful eye of a Madonna statue.

Japanese beetles have nipped at the leaves, but the tobacco seems to be doing well in its new environment.

"The hummingbirds love (the tall plant)," Al said. "They're out here sucking nectar out of the blossoms every morning."

The Brierlys live in Chenot Place. They have three grown daughters and five grandchildren.

Family ties to tobacco date back to 1870, when Al's grandparents, Robert and Rebecca Brierly, married and began farming near Carlisle, Ky.

"When they took up housekeeping, they carried all their belongings in a wash tub, and they had a shotgun and a dog," Al said. "And when (Robert) died in the middle 1930s, he willed each of his seven children a 100-acre farm. He did very good for not having anything when he started."

Al's parents, Arthur and Bessie Brierly, continued the family tradition. He remembers his father making cigars by rolling leaves full of shredded tobacco around wires that were pulled out to create air passages.

"It's pretty strong stuff," Al said. "It'll make you sick if you're not careful."

Arthur sold his farm in the early 1950s. His children wanted to pursue other employment.

"(Tobacco farming) is hard work, really hard work," Al said. "It's not that I'm lazy, but there are easier ways to make a living."

Al smoked a pipe until 1991, when he suffered a heart attack. Now he enjoys a cigar about once a month.

Al can't wait to make cigars with his own tobacco after harvesting it at the end of September. He'll hang leaves to dry under an awning, then wait for a good rain to make them damp and pliable.

"That (plant) is his pride and joy," his wife said.

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC Implements Longview Tax for Global Tax Reporting

Longview Solutions today announced that Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (ITG) has successfully implemented Longview Tax to streamline its global tax reporting process.

Longview Solutions today announced that Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (ITG) has successfully implemented Longview Tax to streamline its global tax reporting process. With 2008 revenues of more than £20 Billion (US$ 27 Billion) and a presence in more than 160 countries, ITG is one of the largest tobacco groups in the world. Following the acquisition of Altadis, and the greater tax reporting burden associated with it, the limitations and lack of scalability of ITG's tax reporting process became apparent. After a formal review of the tax reporting function and related technology, ITG embarked on an initiative to automate data processing, improve reporting capabilities and create a significantly streamlined tax reporting process.

With Longview Tax, ITG is able to improve its overall accounting for income tax process, dramatically reducing its reliance on spreadsheets while, at the same time, taking advantage of Longview's powerful reporting and analysis capabilities. The improvements to the process brought about by tax automation have been immediate. For example, the effort to produce tax notes has been reduced more than 75% during the first cycle of use and ITG can now drill down through the results from the group position all the way to individual entities.

"Longview Tax was the only solution that could meet our global tax reporting and IFRS requirements," said Mark Voice, Senior Tax Manager with ITG. "With Longview Tax we have achieved our project objectives and now have the added benefit of more time to focus on strategic activities such as tax analysis and planning."

"We are pleased to welcome ITG to the growing list of global enterprises that have seen dramatic improvements in their tax function since deploying Longview Tax," said John Power, President of Longview Solutions. "Risk mitigation, compliance, improved efficiencies and strategic finance all point to a clear, definitive market need for enterprise-class tax technology. Longview is very excited to have a leadership position in this emerging market both in North America and Europe."

About Longview Solutions
Longview Solutions is a division of Exact Software and helps companies manage the business of finance with speed, visibility and financial integrity. Since 1995, hundreds of the world's most respected companies including Boeing, Royal Bank of Scotland, GE Healthcare, Home Depot, Ingersoll Rand, JC Penney and many other industry leaders have used our software to create a single repository of financial truth from which Consolidation, Management Reporting, Corporate Planning, Modeling, Analysis, Budgeting, Forecasting, and Tax processes can be performed simultaneously, enterprise wide. For more information please visit www.longview.com.

About Longview Tax
Longview Tax streamlines and automates tax data collection, tax provisioning and tax planning for today's global organizations, employing best-of-breed data management and global collaboration capabilities. Using Longview's open technology, information is automatically collected from any source system, in any currency creating a single repository of financial information. For more information please visit http://tax.longview.com.

About Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is the world's fourth largest international tobacco company. The Group manufactures and sells a comprehensive range of cigarettes, tobaccos, rolling papers, filter tubes and cigars in over 160 countries worldwide. Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is not related in any way to Imperial Tobacco Canada.

Hands off anti-smoking programs targeting minorities

Members of a legislative subcommittee that is scouring Arkansas’ tobacco settlement proceeds for extra money took notice of a $3 million fund balance in the master’s degree program on addiction studies at the University Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

But a Pine Bluff lawmaker says the little-known degree program and 17 community and school grants the university oversees should not be raided for funds to pay for other health-related programs because they and other minority health initiatives funded with tobacco settlement money are addressing a major problem — disparities in health services.

“It’s shocking. If you look at access to health care, you look at the demographics and minority residents, especially in the Delta, minorities don’t have sufficient health care,” Rep. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, said last week after meeting of a joint subcommittee of the House and Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor committees.

During the meeting, members carefully examined the budget of the state Health Department’s Smoking Prevention and Cessation Program’s budget looking for any excess funds that could be shifted to other health-related programs, such as adult drug courts.

“I think that is the wrong direction,” Flowers said.

Sen. Bill Pritchard, R-Elkins, co-chairman of the subcommittee, said the panel’s review of all programs funded by Arkansas’ 25-year, $1.6 billion tobacco settlement is being done to make sure the money is being spent correctly.

Since 2000, the state has received about $446 million, including $57 million last fiscal year, under the 1998 national settlement requiring tobacco companies to make annual payments to Arkansas and 45 other states. Arkansas voters approved a ballot initiative in 2000 requiring all tobacco settlement funds to be spent on health programs.

Pritchard said the panel could hold as many as eight more meetings, which he said could result in recommendations for possible “tweaks” to the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act. Any changes would be debated in the 2011 regular session, he added.

Last week, Pritchard’s subcommittee focused on the state anti-smoking program’s estimated $17.3 million budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. The budget equals 31.6 percent of the total amount of tobacco settlement funds the state is to receive this year.

Of the $17.3 million, 15 percent, or about $3.5 million, is to go to prevention and cessation programs in minority communities, including about $1.9 million to UAPB for 17 community and civic grants, and $703,890 for the master’s program in addiction studies.

One of the few programs of its kind in the country, director Jerry Lewis told lawmakers it prepares students for intervention, prevention and treatment of those with alcohol, tobacco, drug and gambling addictions. Students also learn how to manage addiction facilities.

Lewis said 64 people have completed the 36-hour program and received their degrees, and that another 15 are currently enrolled in the program. Many of the graduates now are working directly in minority communities around the state helping people with addictions, he said.

Former state Rep. Calvin Johnson of Pine Bluff, dean of UAPB’s education department, said the grants are awarded for two years and are renewable. Some of the organizations receiving the grants include the Array Ministries, Asian Pacific Coalition for Smoke Free Arkansas, Boys & Girls Club of St. Francis County, Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas in Pulaski, Jefferson, Desha and Chicot counties, and the County and Family & Youth Enrichment Network, Inc. in Phillips, Monroe, Lee and Prairie counties.

“Are we not in danger of duplicating efforts?” Pritchard asked, noting that many community and civic nonprofit groups already receive funds for health programs.
Johnson said there was not.

“We have a partnership with the Department of Health to monitor and to be accountable and to serve communities that might otherwise not be served,” he said.

Rep. Gregg Reep, D-Warren, praised the communities programs and said they are reaching out to minorities across the state.

“They are getting out into the communities,” he said.

State health officials said the fund balance the master’s program, currently $3 million, fluctuates every year, depending on how much tobacco settlement money the state receives.

Rep. Tracy Pennartz, D-Fort Smith, described the UAPB graduate program as “excellent” but wondered how the university would continue the program if it could no longer count on tobacco settlement money.

Johnson said the university would have to “make some tough decisions,” and UAPB Chancellor Lawrence Davis said he thought another source of funding could be found, but he wasn’t sure.

“I would encourage you to begin (reviewing) what you would do if the money would go away,” Pennartz said.

Flowers defended the program and others targeting minority health.

She said she just returned from a conference at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta on health care disparities. The conference specifically looked at sexually transmitted diseases, but the overall message was that blacks and other minorities are underserved when it comes to health care.

According to the CDC, the chance of a stroke, a leading risk of smoking, is twice as high among black men as white men, and 50.5 percent of whites participate in smoking cessation programs, compared to 35.4 percent for blacks.

Rhonda Smith, a CDC spokeswoman in Atlanta and liaison for the agency’s Office of Minority Health, said in almost every aspect of health care, there is a disparity between minorities and whites in the United States.

“If you look at sexually transmitted diseases, if you look at cancer, if you look at high blood pressure, stroke and all heart-related, cardiac-related diseases, it really doesn’t matter what subject you look at, there are going to be great disparities,” she said.

Flowers said Arkansas did the right thing in 2000 when it obligated funding from the tobacco settlement for minority health issues and said should not even consider diverting money from the programs.

“We’re talking about a state that has so many people dropping out of school, has a big prison population, a big drug program and then tobacco as a source of illness. Why would we do that?” she said.

Japan's tobacco habit runs into court challenge

One plaintiff is a cancer patient. Another is represented by his widow. The third, has emphysema and rolls into the courtroom on a wheelchair with tubes trailing out of his nose. The three Japanese are waging a minnow-vs.-whale battle against Big Tobacco in one of the world's most smoker-friendly countries. But precedent suggests they're likely to lose, and they hope their suit will at least draw attention to the dangers of smoking.

Even if they win, they're unlikely to dent the finances of Japan Tobacco Inc., a former monopoly still half-owned by the government. The three are asking for a total of 30 million yen ($320,000) from a company with 6.8 trillion yen ($72.8 billion) a year in sales.

Their larger goal, they say, is to gain stronger curbs on tobacco, and legal and social acceptance of a notion that much of the world now takes for granted: that smoking makes you sick.

They have a long way to go. There's little of the concerted discouragement of smoking that has gained momentum in the West. Few bars and restaurants ban smoking. Only last year, to curb smoking among children, did a smart card become necessary to buy cigarettes from a vending machine.

A pack of 20 costs 300 yen ($3), less than a third of New York prices, and about 60 percent of it is tax.

Other countries print dire health warnings in bold letters and add pictures of dead babies, gangrenous feet and crumbling teeth. Here, in small print, they say: "Smoking can be one of the causes for lung cancer."

Secondhand smoke? "Tobacco smoke has a harmful effect on people around you, especially infants, children and the elderly. When smoking, please be careful of those around you," the warnings say.

Japan Tobacco officials still flatly deny passive smoking is a problem, arguing that the dangers come from burning cigarettes left on an ashtray — not secondhand fumes.

The corporation has argued in Yokohama District Court that it has no case to answer because smokers are free to quit anytime, smoking is legal and cancer has multiple causes. It's the same defense that gained it victory the last time it was taken to court, in 2003.

The current case began in January, 2005. Since then, co-plaintiff Kenichi Morishita has died of pneumonia and bacterial infection at age 75, leaving 67-year-old cancer patient Koreyoshi Takahashi who has one lung, and Masanobu Mizuno, the emphysema sufferer, a former mechanic who is also 67 and smoked from age 15 to 51.

With final arguments over, the judge has promised a ruling Jan. 20.

Although the case has attracted little media attention, there are signs that even Japan is beginning to kick the habit.

Among adult males, the number of smokers has been falling and now stands at 39.4 percent compared with about 24 percent in the U.S., according to the Japanese Health Ministry and the American Lung Association.

Cigarette ads no longer appear on TV, though Japan Tobacco gets on the air with ads that discourage tossing butts on the street or in trash cans.

There are more smoke-free cabs and areas on train platforms. Some communities have passed ordinances allowing small fines for smoking on streets.

Smoke-free bars and restaurants are enough of a novelty to have spawned a backlash against "smoker-bashing."

In April, a major restaurant chain opened Cafe Tobacco, a Tokyo coffee shop billing itself as a haven for smokers. It has proven popular among customers such as 28-year-old Kousuke Kishi, who takes his coffee with a Marlboro Light.

"I don't want to live an extra year or two by giving up what I love to do," said Kishi, 28, manager at a consultancy.

The lawsuit demands sterner warning labels on cigarettes, a ban on cigarette vending machines, and an acknowledgment that smoking is addictive and harmful.

"When I began smoking, about 80 percent of men were smokers," Mizuno said. "The advertising phrase was, 'You're healthy when a cigarette tastes so good.'"

In the U.S., President Barack Obama has signed a law empowering the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products, and while that too got little attention in the Japanese media, Obama's own struggle to quit smoking has been an inspiration to Mizuno.

"Times have really changed," he said. "The people's victory is near."

THE NEW FEDERAL TOBACCO TAX

The recent expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) was funded by an increase in federal excise taxes on tobacco products. Congress increased the federal tax on cigarettes by 61 cents per pack and raised the tax on other tobacco products, with the goal of equalizing the tax per pound of tobacco. Using tobacco tax increases to fund health care for low-income children is a bad idea. As the taxes imposed on tobacco products increase, revenues are likely to fall -- requiring increases in other taxes. In addition, small businesses and their employees are likely to suffer, and the impact on public health is likely to be negligible, or even negative, says David Weeks, a research assistant at the National Center for Policy Analysis.

According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, the resulting tax increase was much higher on some forms of tobacco:

* For large cigars, the federal tax increased 725 percent per cigar, from about a nickel to 40 cents.
* For loose tobacco, the tax increased 2,160 percent.
* For small cigars, it increased 2,653 percent!

S-CHIP will now cover up to four million additional children in families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. Unfortunately, there is plenty of evidence that not only will these tax hikes harm poor consumers and small businesses, they will fail to deliver the promised government revenues or public health benefits. This means that Congress will likely have to raise other taxes to cover the $33 billion estimated annual cost of the S-CHIP expansion, explains Weeks.

Excise taxes are not a reliable source of revenue. Because they are a fixed amount per unit, they must be increased in order to keep up with inflation. On the other hand, sales, income and property tax revenues all rise with inflation and growth, says Weeks.

Using excise taxes to fund S-CHIP is especially problematic, since the percentage of the population using tobacco products is shrinking, while the number of children eligible for S-CHIP coverage is growing. According to Heritage Foundation projections, the federal government will need 22.4 million new smokers by 2017 to pay for the S-CHIP expansion.

About-face on smoking?

The U.S. military's long love affair with tobacco could be snuffed out someday.

The Pentagon, which actively promoted smoking during the two world wars and still subsidizes tobacco at post exchanges and commissaries, is considering an eventual ban.

That's one recommendation from a panel that was asked by the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs how to reduce tobacco use in the military.

If Defense Secretary Robert Gates accepts the suggestions, it would be a historic about-face for the likes of Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where tens of thousands of young men and women learned to smoke amid a culture that regarded cigarettes as much a part of being a soldier or Marine as carrying a rifle.

"It's all I see on the bases," said Staff Sgt. Maritza Hunt, a squad leader at Fort Bragg.

Hunt, although not a smoker, was skeptical of how successful efforts to curb tobacco use would be.

"You have colonels and generals and all kinds of people who smoke," she said.

The military could end tobacco use within 20 years by gradually refusing entry to users, said the advisory panel's chairman, Stuart Bondurant, dean emeritus of the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

"If the services take the full 20 years, practically everyone now in the military would be retired," he said.

The panel issued a report in June that found that 22 percent of VA patients and 33 percent of active-duty troops use tobacco, compared with 20 percent of the U.S. population. Use is even higher among deployed troops.

Tobacco-related health problems cost the military $846 million annually in medical care and lost productivity, and cost the VA another $6 billion, the report said.

The military and VA have for years tried to reduce smoking; the Pentagon announced in 1999 that it planned to reduce smoking rates by 5 percent a year by 2001 but didn't make it.

The recommendations suggest an incremental approach to bringing only nonsmokers into the services, beginning with the service academies, and lengthening the current ban on smoking during basic training. Eventually all recruits would be told that they could not smoke.

For decades, military leaders supported smoking because they believed it steadied nerves, helped overcome tedium and maybe even brought a jolt of courage.

During World War I, Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing said troops needed cigarettes as much as bullets, and the War Department bought up Bull Durham's entire production in 1918. In World War II, so many cigarettes were shipped to GIs that there was a shortage in the U.S.

Have tobacco laws really caused anyone to butt out?

I really like smoking. I know, I'm a horrible person. Nefarious. Profligate. Lots of big, fancy words describe me. But when nothing is going my way and I'm two seconds away from putting my fist through the wall, nothing calms me down faster than a puff of the old cancer (as they were called in A Clockwork Orange. The book. Not the movie).

Government in recent years has taken it upon itself to squirt the proverbial water in the face of the smokers, and I don't see why not. It's not a bad idea. Smoking is the second most dominant cause of death in the world. It's a filthy habit and hurts everyone around it. But government has taken to what the anti-smoking lobbyists say a bit too much.

A recent story suggests tobacco prices are too low in this province. That sounds viable. On P.E.I. or Nova Scotia I have to pay an extra two bucks of hard earned cash to buy a pack of smokes. But there seems to be a problem with some of the logic used by anti-tobacco proponents. These proponents estimate increasing tobacco prices by ten per cent will get decreasing smoking rates by four per cent. I assume by "estimate" they mean "when we pull numbers out of our...you know." As far as I know, there's no real way to track illegal tobacco sales, but correct me if I'm wrong. When they raise their hands triumphantly they seem to leave out, perhaps purposely, that, yes, people will risk big fines and move onto the illegal brand.

Everyone knows tobacco is a big tax grab. I put myself through school working in convenience stores. My former boss once told me there's little profit for the store in smokes; they're there because they bring people in who buy other things. That boss eventually went backrupt. A major contributing factor? Illegal tobacco. By my estimates (see "pull numbers out of...you know") when tobacco taxes are raised ten per cent, 3.9 per cent of smokers start buying the illegal brand. Just ask my old roommate. He was in that 3.9.

You pay a couple bucks and you get 200 cigarettes. So, while governments start complaining about cigarettes killings its voters, they turn on a dime and start complaining about how illegal cigarettes take away money from health care and education. As ironic as it is for tobacco money to be paying for health care, it's something I'm in favour for.

So here's a crazy idea: want more tax dollars? Stop raising the price of cigarettes. I know it's hard to actually consider, but think about it. All this money being lost is because the taxes are too high. People are going to smoke. Even if tobacco was suddenly made illegal people would still find a way to get it. And on that note, there's no way they'll make it illegal. Like I said, it's a big tax grab.

All I'm suggesting is that among all the discussions and major fines and jail time being implemented because of illegal tobacco, it would be a lot easier if we just stopped raising taxes.

I do feel some pity for the government on this topic. Smokers become enraged when prices go up, but don't do that and they look like they have a weak stance on the subject. Raise the price, people resort to illegal tobacco and tax dollars become mysteriously absent. Terrible catch-22.

If you were to ask me, not that anyone would, the best way to handle this would be to leave tobacco prices where they are. I'm sure some people do quit smoking when prices become too high, but not an effective number. Implement some more anti-smoking laws to guard against the public so to keep second-hand smoke out of unwanting lungs. Create harsher sentences and fines for illegal tobacco dealers and buyers to hopefully deter those involved (although I'm somewhat critical of that myself).

I know, I know. I want to say lower tobacco prices but I'm thinking in terms of what a government official would think. To lower tobacco prices would be to show a weak stance on this evil, but legal, weed as stated above, and truth be told, the non-smoking public does have a right to remain away from smokers.

I doubt these recommendations will go much beyond this article. I could even upset a few anti-smoking advocates (I can only hope). But the fact remains, no matter what the numbers show, people are going to continue smoking. It's time for government to get a backbone and realize the changes haven't caused a significant number of people to butt out.

Staff reporters will offer their views in this space on Wednesday and Friday. Lucas McInnis recently joined the Miramchi Leader as a reporter.

Smoking habits will linger on, despite tasteless legislation

If you smoke cloves, you won't be for much longer—at least in theory.

Meet the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which was signed into law on June 22. It hands the oversight of the manufacture, marketing, and sale of tobacco products to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Starting in October 2009, flavored cigarettes (including cloves and fruit- and candy-flavored cigarettes, though not menthols) will be officially outlawed. Additionally, tobacco companies will no longer be able to advertise through means like logo-printed clothing, samples, or even sponsorship of entertainment or athletic events. Companies must also disclose fully the ingredients in their products to the FDA, in addition to the nicotine content of cigarettes and the health effects of smoking.

Those who championed the legislation have an admirable goal in mind, one that Obama addressed directly as he signed the bill: keeping tobacco companies from targeting kids. They've criticized (and demonized) Big Tobacco so heavily that the rest of us can't help but be mildly supportive of the bill, imagining that the tobacco industry is the real monster under the bed waiting to devour our children at night.

For any smoker or anyone considering smoking, the part of the bill that requires reporting of cigarette ingredients is a great victory—one that should have happened a long time ago. If tobacco companies want cigarettes to remain a legal avenue of recreation, it's about time people should completely know and understand what they're choosing to put into their bodies.

But banning flavored cigarettes puts the righteousness of the bill on shaky ground.

At this point, anyone could say, "But tasty flavors encourage young people to smoke! Do you want our children to be fooled by Big Tobacco?"

It's possible that the availability of products like Swisher Sweets catch the eye of kids not yet smoking. But the same could be said of alcoholic beverages like Bacardi Razz, Smirnoff Ice, and Mike's Hard Lemonade, all of which are legal. Of course there's an age restriction on alcohol, but there's one on tobacco as well. Both are ineffective. If underage people want to drink, it's easy for them to do it. In the same vein, if those underage choose to smoke, they can and will easily acquire cigarettes, flavored or not. Eliminating the variety of cigarette flavors will not change that fact.

From here, the million-dollar questions become: where does the FDA's new authority end, and how do they expect to enforce legislation on flavored cigarettes (aside from the obvious removal from store shelves)? When—because it's only a matter of when, not if—does the FDA decide to take on all flavored tobacco instead of just cigarettes?

My thoughts here extend to people who purchase loose tobacco for pipes and or rolling their own cigarettes. Because of its potential use in cigarettes, will flavored tobacco also face relegation to a "black market" of sorts?

If flavored tobacco generally becomes the target of the FDA's newly-acquired regulatory powers, hookah smokers are also in murky waters. And if flavors can be phased out, why not tobacco itself? At the very least, the FDA will restrict the tobacco industry so greatly that public tobacco usage cannot help but be impacted, with or without their consent.

As for enforcement, I don't expect police training to include a controlled burn of a strawberry-flavored cigarette come October, or to see someone getting patted down for cloves on Green Street because she smells suspiciously like a Christmas ham.

No, I only expect the obvious: if people want flavored cigarettes, they'll find them, end of story. And if the majority of Champaign-Urbana will drink Keystone Light for the sake of getting trashed, then I don't imagine teens wanting to smoke will mind Marlboros over kreteks.

Big Tobacco's New Targets

There are a lot of ways to divide the world--rich and poor, east and west, industrial and agrarian. Now add one more: smoking and nonsmoking. In the U.S. and other developed countries, Big Tobacco is on the run, chased to the curbs by a combination of lawsuits, smoking bans and high taxes. Fewer than 20% of Americans now smoke--the lowest rate since reliable records have been kept. President Barack Obama recently signed laws boosting federal cigarette taxes from 32¢ a pack to $1 and giving the FDA the power to regulate cigarettes like any other food or drug.

But the West is not the world, and elsewhere, smoking is exploding. This year tobacco companies will produce more than 5 trillion cigarettes--or about 830 for every person on the planet. In China, 350 million people are currently hooked on tobacco, which means the country has more smokers than the U.S. has people. Smoking rates in Indonesia have quintupled since 1970.

In Africa the battle for the hearts, minds and lungs of new smokers is being waged particularly aggressively. The continent still enjoys the lowest smoking rates in the world, largely because most people just can't afford cigarettes. But the tobacco industry abhors a vacuum, and in recent years, it has been working hard to fill it.

In 2003 the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, adopted a treaty designed to attack global smoking through a mix of methods including bans and tax hikes. So far, 164 countries have joined the pact. The U.S. signed the treaty in 2004 but has yet to implement it, though the President is expected to seek Senate ratification soon. That step--like every step taken to hold back the tobacco flood tide--will help. Meanwhile, here's a snapshot of where we stand--and the work that still needs to be done.

Ex-Washington Co. jailer must serve 3 years for selling tobacco for $100 a pack to inmates

The $100 packs of tobacco Timothy Crain sold inmates when he worked as a Washington County corrections officer was their idea, he said, but the $2,700 worth of checks he wrote from his father’s account while his mother lay in a hospital incapacitated from a stroke was his notion.

That was his testimony Tuesday in Washington County Criminal Court during his probation hearing for pleading guilty in January to eight counts of official misconduct and six counts of forgery.

Crain, 40, was denied probation and Judge Robert Cupp ordered him to serve his three-year jail sentence. Cupp did, however, order from the bench work release so Crain can continue to pay child support on his two children.


“I’m concerned for them. I don’t know if you are,” Cupp said.

The judge had already questioned Crain’s failure to show remorse for any of his actions after Crain testified about what happened.

Crain was fired from the Washington County Detention Center in May 2008 when supervisors found out he had been selling cigarettes and packs of Bugler tobacco to inmates for $100 a pack.

Crain testified Tuesday that three or four inmates approached him about the deal and he took it.

Sometimes the inmate’s family would make the trade, he said and sometimes he would use the inmate’s ATM card and get the money himself.

Crain said he made $800 selling tobacco to inmates and used the money to pay for bills, food and clothes. During that time he said he was having marital problems, partially due to financial issues. He and his wife separated after his arrest and are now divorced.

After the separation, Crain’s father let him move in there — against the advice of other family members — during the time Crain’s mother was in the hospital and ultimately had as stroke.

Crain testified he often wrote his father’s bill checks and began to write checks from his father’s account to himself as well.

After Crain testified, Cupp asked questions of Susan Crain, who is married to Timothy Crain’s brother.

While not under oath, Susan Crain told Cupp that her brother-in-law is a “shady character,” who has no remorse for what he’s done.

She said he’s continued to ask his father, who lives on a dishwasher’s salary, for money.

Susan Crain said that during her mother-inlaw’s illness, her father-in-law continued to work two jobs and worry about how he could pay the mounting medical bills — all while Timothy Crain was stealing from his father.

Assistant District Attorney Dennis Brooks told Cupp that Crain’s crimes were some of the most “reprehensible” he’s seen while prosecuting cases in Washington County.

Crain’s attorney, Jerome Cochran, said he wouldn’t attempt to defend what Crain did, but asked Cupp to consider that Crain had no prior criminal record before the official misconduct. He also asked if Cupp put Crain in jail, to let him serve the sentence at another facility besides Washington County.

“For me to do anything other than put you in jail would be to downplay the seriousness of this crime,” Cupp said.

While Cupp did approve Crain for work release, he told Crain to find a job locally. Currently, Crain works for K&K Collectibles, which sells NASCAR memorabilia on the race circuit, which requires him to travel to all the races.
Crain returns to court Sept. 1 for the finalization of his sentence.

Accenture and British American Tobacco Sign Five-Year Application Co-Sourcing Contract

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has signed a five-year application co-sourcing contract with British American Tobacco to help the company improve the design, development and implementation of information technology (IT) solutions for its business operations. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Under the agreement, Accenture and British American Tobacco will jointly design a wide range of applications for British American Tobacco’s functions, including finance, supply chain, sales and marketing, with Accenture developing these applications for global, regional and local use. The program will help British American Tobacco transform its solution delivery function into a global, simplified and standardized operation.

Accenture will deliver the co-sourced services through a joint application development center with British American Tobacco in Spain and through the Accenture Global Delivery Network, including the use of delivery centers in the Philippines and India.

“We believe that this co-sourced program will make us considerably more effective across our global enterprise,” said Craig Wallace, head of solution delivery at British American Tobacco. “Collaborating with Accenture on this program will greatly enhance our knowledge, skills and capabilities and enable us to more quickly reshape and transform solution delivery within our business. Accenture is arguably the leader in this field and brings world-class people, tools and assets, combined with a deep understanding of and close relationships with SAP and Siebel.”

Koen Van Bockstaele, a senior executive in Accenture’s Consumer Goods & Services practice, said, “This project will help British American Tobacco deliver IT solutions in a more focused, coordinated and efficient manner across its global operations. We look forward to helping the company significantly improve the speed of technology delivery and reduce the level of complexity in the process.”

Learn more about Accenture’s application development services and listen to the podcast or download the pdf to learn more about the costs and complexities of managing multiple application development and maintenance suppliers.

Health care advocates applaud new tobacco laws

Health care advocates and anti-smoking groups are applauding the new law that gives the FDA authority over tobacco. They say its a big step that was 50 years in the making.

In 1966 the first health warning was printed on a pack of cigarettes. It was pretty mild saying only that smoking may be hazardous to your health. Today the warnings are much more graphic and there is a new sheriff regulating the industry. The Food and Drug Administration. Health officials and anti-smoking advocates credit Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd with leading the fight to make that happen. The FDA will crack down on misleading terms like "light" and "mild" that infer a tobacco product is somehow safer. It also goes after marketing to children.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut: When you eliminate candy flavored cigarette, advertising within a thousand feet of a schoolyard, allowing these promotional advertisements using cartoon animals... Don't have any illusions about what the tobacco industry is involved in. You don't provide candy flavored cigarettes for adults.

Experts feel cutting down on the number of kids who start using tobacco will greatly reduce the number of adults who smoke in the long run.

Dr. Keri Wallace, CT Children's Medical Center: 12 percent of your 7th and 8th graders have used some form of tobacco. That's really unacceptable and it gets even worse because when they get to high school its about 28 percent.

Cigarette companies kicked out of UN-backed meeting on tobacco smuggling

A U.N.-backed meeting on tobacco smuggling has barred cigarette companies from attending for fear they will try to influence delegates, participants said Thursday.

More than 130 countries agreed late Wednesday to expel the tobacco industry from the rest of the weeklong meeting of parties to the 2005 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which the U.S. has signed but yet to ratify.

Governments are considering a range of measures to crack down on contraband cigarettes, including a ban on Internet sale of tobacco products and a crackdown on smuggling through duty free zones.

"We (the governments) decided not to permit the tobacco industry to enter the meeting because they could interfere in the negotiations," said Justino Regalado Pineda, the head of Mexico's National Office for Tobacco Control.

Institutional tobacco support through TEKEL

TEKEL has a 70 percent share of the domestic Turkish cigarette market, and is the largest tobacco exporter in Turkey. It oversees, among other things, the manufacture, import and sale of tobacco, as well as carrying out research to improve quality, productivity and operational efficiency.
The two most important products produced and sold domestically are filtered cigarettes and Turkish raki (an alcoholic aromatic liquor).

According to Schmitz et al. , tobacco policy has had a positive impact on value addition, has enhanced welfare, and has favoured producers of poorly selling, low quality tobacco grown on hilly 82 Tobacco in Turkey terrain, the government making up the difference between the announced and market price through deficiency payments. Consumer prices are lower because of subsidization of TEKEL’s tobacco processing. However, producers in general benefit only negligibly. Because of TEKEL’s large market share and its ties to government, it acts as a price leader in the industry. Producers, as a last resort, can sell their tobacco to TEKEL.

Final report

Defendants argue that because the government did not disclose its final corrective statements proposal until its posttrial proposed remedial order, the district court denied Defendants due process by ordering a version of that remedy without providing Defendants adequate notice and an opportunity to respond.
Although Defendants purport to press this objection in a general fashion “with respect to many other 70 remedies imposed by the district court,” they state it with sufficient specificity for our consideration only with regard to corrective statements.
The exact content of the statements is yet to be determined and so is not before us at this stage.

Knowledge and intent

The predicate acts of racketeering in this case were all acts of mail or wire fraud, which require specific intent to defraud. Defendants challenge the district court’s conclusion that they acted with specific intent, arguing that the district court applied an impermissible “collective intent” standard and that the government did not present any evidence to support a finding of specific intent under the correct formulation. Corporations may be held liable for specific intent offenses based on the “knowledge and intent” of their employees.

Because a corporation only acts and wills by virtue of its employees, the proscribed corporate intent depends on the wrongful intent of specific employees. Thus, to determine whether a corporation made a false or misleading statement with specific intent to defraud, we look to the state of mind of the individual corporate officers and employees who made, ordered, or approved the statement.

Old Marlboro

Health warnings on tobacco packs

Weak health warnings on tobacco packs – or no warnings at all – continue to be the global norm. As a result, the least expensive way to convey the health risks of tobacco consumption to users and potential users is largely unused. Of the 176 countries that provided information on pack warnings, only 15 countries, covering 6% of the world’s population, require pictorial warnings (covering at least 30% of the principal surface area) on packs of cigarettes and other tobacco products, and only five countries, representing 4% of the world’s population, meet all criteria for pack warnings.
These countries, which are in different regions and have diverse social characteristics and income levels, show what can and should be done. Of the countries that provided information, 77 do not mandate any warnings at all. There are 25 countries that require pack warnings covering less than 30% of the main display areas; most of these warnings are very small. Another 45 countries have warnings that cover 30% of the main display areas, and only 29 have warnings larger than 30% of the main display areas.
Warnings are often weakly worded, vaguely stating that tobacco is bad for health but without mentioning specific diseases that it causes. Only 66 countries have laws that ban the use of deceptive tobacco industry marketing terms, such as “light” and “low-tar”, from tobacco packaging. More than 40% of the world’s population lives in countries that do not prevent the tobacco industry from using these and other misleading and deceptive terms.

Menthol cigarettes risks

The factual evidence of excessive toxicity and health risks related to it, have been corroborated by Prof. Dudi Avni, chairman of the cancer research institute at Tel Aviv Medical Center. Other studies performed by American and Australian scientists have revealed that African Americans are more prone to addiction caused by menthol cigarettes than White Americans.

The late woman, who started lighting up at the tender age 17 perished away three years ago. As her husband said, she initially smoked usual cigarettes but switched to menthol cigarettes 10 years ago. She got hooked on menthol cigarettes, smoking up to more than a pack of Montana Menthol each day. She was not aware that menthol cigarettes are more addictive than other cigarettes. Her husband also said that their daughter also smokes, copying her mother’s habits, and she made several attempts to give up, but they were unsuccessful.

Gauloises Blondes Cigarettes

Gauloises Blondes en 30 existe en 4 decors differents--Le paquet change, pas la cigarette! Ce n'est que le debut d'une longue serie!
At the beginning of the 21st century Gauloises issued a set of six snazzy packs for hip smokers. The back of each of the flip-top boxes pictured a drawing of a Gauloises box being kept in the most interesting places. Two of my favorite packs from the set are pictured below.

Camel Cigarette Clown

1964 Camel Cigarette Clown Smoking in Dressing Room Ad
Camel Time is pleasure time! Time for clean-cut taste, honest enjoyment, easygoing mildness. Moments seem to brighten up every time you light one up. Make it Camel Time right now! THE BEST TOBACCO MAKES THE BEST SMOKE!

Individuals smoke one brand

Individuals smoke one brand consistently, so that they become identified with it. A guest who discovers that his host smokes the same brand considers this a personal flattery. If a young lady changes to the brand of an admirer, he understands that he has surely made an impression. Here is the experience of one young man, and his interpretation of it: "I was very fond of a girl. She was giving a farewell party before leaving the country. I didn't have any idea how I stood in her affection. The only clue was that at her party she had my brand of cigarettes.
I always felt that that was in deference to me." "My brand" has a special significance, as if it were a part of the smoker's credo and personality. A Package of Pleasure A new pack of cigarettes gives one a pleasant feeling. A full, firm pack in the hand signifies that one is provided for, and gives satisfaction, whereas an almost empty pack creates a feeling of want and gives a unpleasant impression. The empty pack gives us a feeling of real frustration and deprivation. During the seventeenth century, religious leaders and statesmen in many countries condemned the use of tobacco. Smokers were excommunicated by the Church and some of them were actually condemned to death and executed.
But the habit of smoking spread rapidly all over the world. The psychological pleasures derived proved much more powerful than religious, moral, and legal persuasions. As in the case of the prohibition experiment in the United States, repressive measures seem to have aroused a spirit of popular rebellion and helped to increase the use of tobacco. If we consider all the pleasure and advantages provided, in a most democratic and international fashion, by this little white paper roll, we shall understand why it is difficult to destroy its power by means of warnings, threats. This pleasure miracle has so much to offer that we can safely predict the cigarette is here to stay. Our psychological analysis is not intended as a eulogy of the habit of smoking, but rather as an objective report on why people smoke cigarettes.
Perhaps this will seem more convincing if we reveal a personal secret: We ourselves do not smoke at all. We may be missing a great deal.

Tax hike on smokeless tobacco and cigarettes

From bad to worse

“Otherwise, we’ll simply take a bad budget year and make it worse,” said press secretary Dan Turner.

Barbour also wants a special tax hike on smokeless tobacco and cigarettes made by companies that don’t pay Mississippi millions of dollars like others annually do to settle the 1994 lawsuit Mississippi filed against the industry for sickening smokers.

Watson and Kirby — joined by the four other members of the House-Senate panel appointed to negotiate a compromise — met for about two hours in a state Capitol committee room full of lobbyists, health advocates and reporters.

The session — the first since the Legislature began a lengthy recess April 1 — provided negotiators a chance to render the public more information about their positions on House Bill 364, but it didn’t move them closer to an agreement.

Return to stalled session

They did not set their next meeting date. The House and Senate are tentatively scheduled to return in two weeks to resume their stalled legislative session. They decided to take a break April 1 so legislators can further assess how federal stimulus funds will impact the state budget.

The Legislature’s main task upon its return is to fund state government for the fiscal year that begins in July.

The move to increase the cigarette tax is being largely propelled by legislators’ desire to keep car tag prices from going up.

The state Tax Commission voted last week to decrease the discounts people have been receiving for their car taxes since 1994. The car tag credit would decline from 5.5 percent to 3 percent.

The commission has been warning since January this cut would happen beginning in July as the state’s car-tax reduction fund runs out of money. This is being caused by a decline in automobile sales. Sales tax revenues are diverted to counties to replace local taxes lost because of the car tag credits.