Poor Smokers Quit Smoking Because of Tobacco Taxes, Jakarta News

Although the cost of living in the capital is becoming unbearable for many Jakartans, when it comes to buy Esse cigarettes some have no qualms about shelling out as much as half of their incomes for the “luxury”.

Meet Romli, a liang teh (Chinese health tea) seller who earns between Rp 25,000 (US$2.80) and Rp 50,000 a day and spends some Rp 20,000 daily on two packs of cigarettes.

The 23-year-old man from Slipi, West Jakarta, said obligations to his wife and 4-year-old son were not enough to make him quit smoking and put that money to his family.

“My wife scolds me when she finds me smoking, especially when I do it when my son is around, but so far it hasn’t stopped me,” he said.

However, Romli said that, although he would not quit smoking any time soon, he always saved enough money for his son’s needs.

“I always make sure that my son’s needs are fulfilled,” he said.

In South Jakarta, another smoker, Sukiman, said that despite earning only Rp 650,000 per month as caretaker of a low-rent apartment in Kebayoran, he could not pass a day without spending Rp 10,000 for cigarettes.

“I started smoking when I was a little boy, younger than 10 years old,” Sukiman told The Jakarta Post.

Beside him were two packs of cigarettes: One nearly empty and the other still sealed.

“Back then, it was only one cigarette a day. Then it became two and then four and six and so on. Nowadays, I smoke between one and one and a half packs a day.” One pack of his favorite cigarettes costs between Rp 9,500 and Rp 10,000.

His children are grown and generate their own income now, Sukiman said.

Health Ministry data shows that, in 2010, smoking among Indonesian adults increased to 34.7 percent, up from 31.5 percent in 2001. Of that 34.7 percent, 28.2 percent smoked every day.

The data also shows that 66 percent of males and 4 percent of females over 15 are active smokers.

Tobacco industry players have targeted cigarette sales of Rp 188 trillion this year, a 6 percent increase from Rp 177 trillion last year when an estimated 250 billion cigarettes were produced. At least 10 million Indonesians are directly involved in the country’s cigarette industry.

The Jakarta administration is currently considering revoking the government-sponsored healthcare insurance for poor people who smoke habitually.

Sukiman, like many other impoverished smokers, said that he often tried to quit smoking.

“When I am working on something and my mind is occupied, I often forget my urge to smoke,” he said.

Irfan, a motorcycle taxi driver in Slipi agreed, but added, “The moment I take a break from doing whatever I’m doing, the moment I sit down and my mind begins to wander, that is when I feel the urge to smoke again.”

People such as Irfan and Sukiman said they often felt helpless to resist their smoking urges.

“It has changed from merely a hobby to some sort of a craving,” said Amsar, 45, an unofficial security guard at a residential area in Grogol Utara subdistrict, South Jakarta.

As an unofficial security guard, he does not have a fixed source of income. Most of the time, he depends on the generosity of local residents to give him money for his services.

“Let’s just say that I have enough money to buy my meals, my cups of coffee and lots of cigarettes. I can’t stop doing it now,” he said, taking a long drag on his cigarette.

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Posted in: buy Esse cigarettes,cigarette,quit smoking

U.S. Judge blocks Graphic Cigarette Warnings

A federal judge blocked a U.S. rule requiring tobacco companies to display graphic images on cigarette packs, such as a man exhaling discount Marengo cigarette smoke through a hole in his throat.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon sided on Monday with tobacco companies and granted a temporary injunction, saying they would likely prevail in their lawsuit challenging the requirement as unconstitutional because it compels speech in violation of the First Amendment.

The Food and Drug Administration in June released nine new warnings to go into effect in September of 2012, the first change in U.S. cigarette warning labels in 25 years. Cigarette packs already carry text warnings from the U.S. Surgeon General.

The new warnings must cover the top half of the front and back of cigarette packs and 20 percent of printed advertisements and must contain color graphics depicting the health consequences of smoking, including diseased lungs, dead bodies and rotting teeth.

Congress instructed FDA to impose the new labels as part of 2009 legislation making the agency responsible for regulating tobacco products.

“The sheer size and display requirements for the graphic images are anything but narrowly tailored,” Leon wrote in a 29-page opinion.

Just because Congress ordered the size and placement of the new warnings before charging the FDA with carrying out the mandate, “doing so does not enable this requirement to somehow automatically pass constitutional muster,” he said.

The content of the images would also not likely survive constitutional muster because the FDA did not attempt to narrowly tailor those either, the judge said.

The tobacco lawsuit is the latest effort by corporations to assert a right to free speech, a high-profile legal battle that could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Reynolds American Inc’s R.J. Reynolds unit, Lorillard Inc, Liggett Group LLC and Commonwealth Brands Inc, owned by Britain’s Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, sued the FDA in August.

They argued the new graphic warnings force them to “engage in anti-smoking advocacy” on the government’s behalf, breaching their right to free speech.

The Obama administration’s options include appealing Leon’s ruling or the FDA could try to rewrite the rules.

FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Yao said the agency did not comment on proposed, pending or ongoing litigation. Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said the department was aware of the decision and was reviewing it.

The White House expressed disappointment in the ruling.

“Tobacco companies shouldn’t be standing in the way of common sense measures that will help prevent children from smoking. We are confident big tobacco’s attempt to stop these warnings from going forward will ultimately fail,” White House spokesman Nick Papas said.

Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, accounting for one in every five deaths every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 21 percent of U.S. adults smoke cigarettes, a number little changed since 2004.

Worldwide, tobacco kills nearly 6 million people every year, including more than 600,000 nonsmokers, according to the World Health Organization, which has repeatedly called for graphic images to appear on tobacco packs, saying the pictorial warnings actually work.

The tobacco industry had asked Leon to block the FDA’s new requirements, pending a final decision on their constitutionality. They argued they needed a quick ruling because they would have to start in November or December and spend millions of dollars to comply with the requirements.

Justice Department attorneys had argued that the money was a small fraction of the companies’ net sales, so they would not suffer irreparable harm without the temporary injunction.

Government attorneys said the labels conveyed the dangers of smoking more effectively than words alone, and were needed to stop more people from smoking, especially teenagers.

Judge Leon said the images provoked an emotional response rather than just providing factual and noncontroversial information, crossing the line into using company advertising for government advocacy.

Floyd Abrams, a prominent First Amendment lawyer representing Lorillard, called Leon’s ruling a “vindication for the well-established First Amendment principle that the government may not compel speech in the commercial area.”

He said the case was in its early stages and there was a “good chance” it will eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Dow Jones tobacco index, whose components include Altria, Lorillard and Reynolds American, was just 0.05 percent higher in afternoon trading amid mixed trading for broader U.S. stock indexes as investors kept a worried eye on European debt problems.

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Posted in: tobacco companies,tobacco products

Russia considers total ban on hookah

Russia’s hookahs lovers may soon be deprived of their beloved habit, as the country’s parliament is considering a bill on banning the smoky hobby in public places.

Hookah ban is considered in Russia.

The ban’s supporters say smoking hookahs is a hundred times more harmful than cheap cigarettes. They also point out that the habit can spread tuberculosis and syphilis.

The Russian government is also working on a radical anti-tobacco draft which will completely eliminatetobacco shops and prohibit smoking in building entrances, coffee shops, restaurants and nightclubs.

The Health Ministry has also suggested annual price increases on tobacco. According to Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin, the increase in excise tax on alcohol and tobacco will bring in an additional 8 billion rubles in 2012 and 59 billion rubles in 2013.

The goal of the new anti-tobacco legislation is to decrease tobacco consumption in Russia by 10-15 per cent. Today, 60.2 per cent of males and 21.7 per cent of females smoke in Russia, making up 40 per cent of the country’s population. An estimated 400,000 Russians die each year of smoking-related illnesses.

Thus far, efforts to introduce a general smoking ban have faced an uphill struggle. Recent draft legislation would see a ban in cafes and nightclubs no earlier than 2015.

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Posted in: cheap cigarettes,tobacco

Cowboys & Aliens Fails to Shoot Straight on Smoking with Its Youngest Movie Goers

Universal Takes One Step Forward, Two Steps Back with Major Smoking Scenes in Youth-Rated Blockbuster, Opening Today
Washington, D.C. – Cowboys & Aliens, released today, will be reaching young theater audiences around the country with images of smoking that could motivate many of them to light up for the first time. Previous research has already confirmed a link between smoking images in movies and youth smoking initiation.

Universal Studios, spotlighted just two weeks ago in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report as one of three movie companies that pared smoking in movies rated for youth by 96 percent, released the PG-13 blockbuster today, which features a cowboy hero, portrayed by Daniel Craig, who is seen smoking in key scenes.

“Just weeks ago, we applauded Universal for responding to this problem so responsibly by nearly eliminating tobacco from their G, PG and PG-13 movies,” said David Dobbins, Chief Operating Officer of Legacy®, the national public health foundation devoted to youth smoking prevention and adult smoking cessation. “This reversal confirms that without a uniform policy, young people will continue to see images of smoking that can inevitably cause them to smoke. It underscores how critical it is for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to take a much-needed leadership role and adopt a comprehensive policy on smoking by which all studios must abide.”

In a July 15, 2011 CDC report, findings revealed that Universal, Disney and Warner Bros., had reduced tobacco incidents per youth-rated movie by 96 percent on average between 2005 and 2010. The data found that three other major studios — Fox, Sony and Paramount — had performed remarkably less well (42%).

In order to reduce youth exposure to tobacco imagery and level the playing field for all movie companies, public health groups like Legacy recommended that future movies with smoking be R-rated. The CDC’s report earlier this month underscored that point, saying, “Consistent with the effects of anti-tobacco use policies adopted by the three motion picture companies, expanding the R-rating to include movies with smoking could further reduce exposures of young persons to onscreen tobacco incidents, making smoking initiation less likely.”

So far in 2011, major Hollywood studios have released at least 15 youth-rated movies with tobacco imagery, all but two with PG-13 ratings: Fox: Monte Carlo, Water for Elephants; Sony: Country Strong, The Green Hornet, Jumping the Broom, Priest, Midnight in Paris; Paramount: Rango (PG); Justin Bieber (G); Universal: Cowboys & Aliens, Hanna, Larry Crowne; Warner Bros.: Sucker Punch, Unknown, The Rite.

Cowboys & Aliens, distributed by Universal (Comcast), was produced by DreamWorks with Reliance (India), Relativity and Imagine Entertainment. It was shot in New Mexico on a reported $100 million budget, with public subsidies.

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Posted in: cheapest cogarettes online,Monte Carlo,smoking,tobacco imagery

30 fascinating facts, cessation, advertisements, statistics and laws about smoking

Cigarette smoking facts help us to look at things in a glimpse. Links are available time and again in the following facts that lead to more detailed reading within or outside this site.

You will be surprised to know that millions of people who smoke today hardly know a fraction of the smoking facts presented here.

Many get into the habit and addiction blindly without ever giving consideration to the catastrophe that awaits them. The facts that follows also sample the frequently quoted 30 fascinating cigarettes moking facts.
Follow the link to read some other interesting facts about smoking

Cigarette smoking facts: China

Smoking girl

• Nearly 70% of men smoke and only 3% of women. The statistics for women smokers have however began climbing in China.
• For every three cigarettes smoked on earth, one is in China.
• Smoking will wipe out one third of all male under 30 smokers in China
• Statistics show that 3000 people die every day in China due to smoking. Roughly the same number of teens who start smoking in the United states every day.
• In 2009 China increased tobacco tax by 6 to 11 % to raise more revenue as well as to curb smoking.
• China is the world’s heaviest smoker with China National Tobacco Company (CNTC) being the largest tobacco company in the world.
• China’s tobacco industry accounts for 8% of national revenue. 2008 revenue was 430 billion yuan (about US$63 billion).

Tobacco leaves

• At one point in the 90s 65% of smokers were teachers and 68% physicians.
• A study in one district, Minhang, found smokers spend 60% of their personal income on smoking and 17% of household income.
• An equivalent of the entire US population smokes in China i.e 350 million people.
• A survey in China established that 60% of adults did not know that smoking can cause lung cancer and 96% were ignorant to the fact that it can cause heart disease.

General cigarette smoking facts: Health

• A British research established that 99% of women did not know the association between smoking and cervical cancer.

Immune system

• Smoking is the biggest single preventable reason for disease and early death.
• Smoking related illness costs the US taxpayer up to $150 billion annually.
• There are 599 additives in cigarettes and 4000 toxic or carcinogenic chemicals in tobacco smoke.
• For each cigarette you smoke, you take away five minutes of your life, on average the length of time it takes to finish the cigarette.
• There is an association between cigarette smoking and diabetes.
• On average smokers puff on light and menthol cigarettes such asmalboro light cigarettes harder than regular cigarettes resulting in the same harmful levels of tar and nicotine to be consumed.
• There is approximately a 20% sugar component in cigarettes. Millions of diabetic smokers are unaware of this fact.
• A smoker’s immune system works harder than normal and is always active. Generally smokers quickly and effectively fight off viralinversion on this strength.

General cigarette smoking facts: Advertisements

Cigarette Camel ad

• Philip Morris a US tobacco multinational in 1996 spent 43 billion on tobacco advertising.
• Peer-reviewed studies strongly point to teenage tobacco useinfluenced by cigarette advertising.

Tiparrilo M cigarettes ads

• Cigarette advertising attempts to link smoking with sexual attractiveness, athletic prowess, adulthood, adventure, fulfillment and success.

Lucky Strike cigarette ads

• Half of those surveyed in the UK thought that smoking “can’t really be all that dangerous, or the Government wouldn’t let cigarettes be advertised”

Marlboro cigarettes ad

• In Russia foreign tobacco businesses are top advertisers taking up 40% of all TV and radio advertising.
• Smoking laws, have played a very significant role in restricting cigarette advertising.

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Posted in: cigarette advertising,cigarette smoking,Cigarette smoking facts,cigarettes moking facts,General cigarette smoking facts: Health,people who smoke,women smokers

The Gateway Cigarettes

Aaron Candlers says he likes to smoke Karelia cigarettes when he is stressed. If the Atlanta construction worker has a tough day on the job, he lights up. If he has a beef with the family, Candlers is puffing away.

And if his late model Ford Explorer breaks down on the Atlanta freeway, as it did recently, Candlers will be headed to the corner store to re-up on the nicotine sticks.

“It just died on me,” Candler says between long drags off a cigarette. “So I was like real stressed and I think I smoked half a pack of cigarettes waiting on the tow truck.”

Like about 19 million other Americans, Candlers smokes menthol cigarettes – for now. The Food and Drug Administration is currently considering whether to ban menthol from cigarettes. Candlers, a stocky man with a beard and a wide smile, says that would be a bad decision.

“They gonna have a war on their hands,” Candlers says of the FDA. “I know a lot of folks that smoke menthols, and it would be wrong just to ban one type of cigarette.”

But the U.S. government has already banned other types of cigarettes. Flavored beedies, cloves, cigarettes with spices, peppermint and vanilla have all been banned in an effort to discourage teenagers from picking up the habit. Basically, anything that makes tobacco easier to taste or inhale has been targeted by the FDA and Congress.

The FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee is recommending menthol be banned. The committee issued a report earlier this year finding that menthol cigarettes are overwhelmingly smoked by the poor, the young and African-Americans.

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Posted in: Kiss cigarettes,menthol cigarettes,pack of cigarettes,types of cigarettes

Tobacco Taxes to Inflation, Tañada

Deputy House Speaker Lorenzo ‘Erin’ R. Tañada III cautioned against the passage of an “incomplete measure” on tobacco and Classic cigarettes tax reform that would only lift price classification freeze because such taxes also need to be indexed to inflation.

Indexing to inflation tobacco taxes simply means that when prices of common commodities, such as food, go up, then so will taxes on tobacco products increase.

Tañada explained that without indexation, sin taxes will eventually be eroded by inflation while tobacco products would be made affordable, thereby defeating the very purpose of taxing cigarettes to discourage smoking.

“The need to reform the current sin tax law and to simplify the administration of tobacco taxes is urgent, but we also need to ensure that the reforms are comprehensive,” Tañada said.

“The removal of the price classification freeze is definitely a big step toward correcting the flaws in the sin tax law — and this has cost the government billions worth of revenues in the past years. But tobacco taxes should also be indexed to inflation so that collections can keep pace with the rise of cigarette prices,” he pointed out.

He explained that lifting the price classification freeze only corrects a flaw in the current sin tax law, which assigned 2011 as the last year for raising tobacco taxes and classifying cigarettes for tax purposes based on their 1996 prices.

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Posted in: Classic cigarettes,tobacco products,tobacco taxes