These articles provide public health advocates and policymakers concise, up-to-date summaries of key legal developments affecting public health in your communities. http://www.tobaccolawcenter.org/LinkArchive.html Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:45:22 -0600 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:44:55 -0600 FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.2.0) http://www.feedforall.com http://tobaccolawcenter.org/images/tlc-home-icon.jpg http://www.tobaccolawcenter.org/LinkArchive.html These articles provide public health advocates and policymakers concise, up-to-date summaries of key legal developments affecting public health in your communities. 174 102 After a long struggle, the Michigan House and Senate have finally passed a statewide bill prohibiting smoking in workplaces, bars and restaurants. Governor Jennifer Granholm has indicated she will sign the bill, which will take effect May 1, 2010 and make Michigan the 27th state with a smoke-free law that includes all bars and restaurants. The bill exempts three Detroit casinos, cigar bars, specialty tobacco shops, home offices and motor vehicles, including commercial trucks. http://www.tobaccolawcenter.org/news-archive.html 3F62F911-7384-4916-9F25-F7897BC14D6F Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:44:55 -0600 The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, along with national health partners, just released its annual report ranking the states on their funding of tobacco prevention and cessation programs. The report finds that states are collecting more tobacco-generated revenue than ever before ($25.1 billion from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes), but are spending just 2.3 percent of it -- $567.5 million -- on programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. In fact, over the last year, states have cut funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs by more than 15 percent. http://www.tobaccolawcenter.org/news-archive.html 72C6D7DB-EF1F-4854-B0ED-59D0F2A88E95 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:02:26 -0600 A New Hampshire state representative has filed legislation to prohibit smoking on beaches in New Hampshire’s 23 state parks. State Rep. Judith Day claims she was inspired by neighboring Maine, which this year became the first state to ban smoking on its beaches. Another state lawmaker has filed a bill proposing a ban on outdoor smoking in public areas of state parks, such as picnic areas. In addition to Maine and Puerto Rico, almost 100 cities have smoke-free beaches and more than 1,000 cities have outdoor smoking policies. Reasons for bans vary from concern about litter from butts to the desire to keep tobacco smoke out of adjacent buildings. http://www.tobaccolawcenter.org/news-archive.html 97BDA6F0-B0EE-4BCF-9F81-BFDFD8F9E477 Tue, 8 Dec 2009 13:31:15 -0600 The World Health Organization has launched a campaign to stop the rapid rise of smoking in Africa - a pandemic-sized problem expected to account for 46 percent of all deaths in Africa by 2030, up from 25 percent in 2004. The Geneva-based agency will set up a regional center in 2010 for health experts to work with African governments to introduce anti-smoking policies. The work will be financed in part by a $10-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. http://www.tobaccolawcenter.org/news-archive.html F0C3DD31-EB7E-4A57-94CF-1AA0EA12439A Mon, 7 Dec 2009 13:18:02 -0600 The second largest cigarette manufacturer, Reynolds American, has just announced it is buying Niconovum, a Swedish marketer of smoking cessation products, for $44 million. The firm sells harm reduction products, such as nicotine gum, pouches and spray, that are designed to help customers stop using tobacco products. Some critics question Reynolds’s motives, pointing out that the firm will then profit from the addiction caused by their tobacco products. http://www.tobaccolawcenter.org/news-archive.html 45FC53F6-55CF-4046-BCA6-1E95003F51CF Fri, 4 Dec 2009 12:26:28 -0600 Approximately 24.6 million Brazilians aged 15 and older smoke – roughly 17.2 percent of the population in this age group, according to a recent study by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The study found that about 51.2 of all smokers in Brazil claim they want to quit, and that approximately 26 million Brazilians, or 18.2 percent of the population, are former smokers. http://www.tobaccolawcenter.org/news-archive.html 7ECF7A63-35E1-4135-84A7-87913C12D9D4 Wed, 2 Dec 2009 10:47:04 -0600 On December 1, Virginia will join twenty-eight other states and the District of Columbia in requiring restaurants to be smoke-free. Virginia’s new state law will allow restaurants to have smoking areas only if the enclosures have ventilation systems separate from those that heat and cool nonsmoking patrons. http://www.tobaccolawcenter.org/news-archive.html F89E256C-D7F4-49CC-A90A-952DCC7E3188 Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:46:25 -0600 A Cardiff University study of 3,500 children in Wales found that the United Kingdom’s smoke-free law did not raise secondhand smoke exposure in homes of children, despite concerns regarding the potential displacement of smoking from public places into homes. http://www.tobaccolawcenter.org/news-archive.html C1972AEC-9881-40E8-8A40-98840C7A39BB Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:55:45 -0600 A Fort Lauderdale jury ordered Philip Morris to pay $300 million to a 61-year-old former smoker with emphysema, who may need a lung transplant as the result of smoking. The verdict is the largest of the so-called Engle progeny cases, named after a major Florida Supreme Court ruling in 2006 that lowered a plaintiff’s burden of proof against a tobacco company and made it easier to pursue tobacco lawsuits in Florida than in other states. http://tobaccolawcenter.org/news-archive.html 135E579D-A39D-464C-BC75-5E8B2799A44E Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:47:55 -0600