Yesterday, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to become the first county in the state of California to raise the tobacco purchase age from 18 to 21. The new ordinance will take effect on January 1, 2016 and comes on the heels of the state senate passing a similar measure that still has a few obstacles to pass before becoming state law. According to country staff, it is estimated that 90 percent […]
The first city in Ohio; Upper Arlington has passed a law changing the age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21. The Upper Arlington City Council voted 7-0 to ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21. The law also includes e-cigarettes The law goes into effect 30 days from the date it passed.
Massachusetts is at it again, this time flavored cigars are under attack with the Senate passing a tobacco tax increase to 210% on flavored cigars. According to Senator Jason Lewis, a Democrat from Winchester, the use of flavored tobacco has jumped 4,000 percent since 2006. Because of this number and the attraction to younger people he had an amendment attached to the state budget that will raise the tax rom the current 40%. Unflavored cigars would […]
Earlier today, the California Senate approved a bill that would raise the legal age for buying tobacco products from 18 to 21. The bill, SB 151, was introduced by Democrat Senator Ed Hernandez who argued that 90% of all tobacco users start before 21. The bill was supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the California Medical Assn. Opponents include the California Retailers Assn., the Cigar Assn. of […]
The FDA strikes again, and this time it has to do with the marketing of tobacco products. According to a report published on the FDA website, advertising or marketing a tobacco product that was released after February 15, 2007 could become a thing of the past. A substantially equivalent tobacco product has been found by FDA to either have the same characteristics as a predicate tobacco product; or has different characteristics than the predicate tobacco product […]
Earlier this year, Democrat Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania proposed a tobacco increase to 40% in a state where the previous rate was 0%. That measure was defeated in a unanimous votes of 193-0. The state still does not have a budget in place, and this is the last month to get one in place as the fiscal year ends at the end of the month.
Over the last couple of months, the topic of smoking in city parks has been debated in Seattle with groups saying it would target the homeless and minorities. Yesterday, saw the measure to ban smoking in the parks pass after language was removed from the bill that would have resulted in a $27.00 fine. With the fine removed from the measure, those who violate the ban would be subjected to a written or verbal warning […]
The Newport City Council passed a new measure that bans smoking on beaches and includes Cliff Walk. The measure was passed with 6-1 vote. According to the City Council part of the reason for passing the law has to do with ecosystem. However, there are currently no fines attached to the new measure, and those who choose to light up will be asked to put out their cigars. Both the Open Space and Newport […]
If you are an old man from Nantucket, smoking on the beach is something you can cross off the list of things you can do. The Board of Health voted unanimously to ban smoking at town-owned recreation areas, including all public beaches, playgrounds, parks and adjacent parking areas. The board stated that strict enforcement will be difficult and that if a person is caught smoking they will receive a verbal warning or fine and a […]
In Waynesville, North Carolina the town alderman voted late last week to ban smoking on all town property. This included parks, ball fields, greenways, public parking lots, the grounds of town buildings and sidewalks. The latter wasn’t easily passed as it was met with heated debate that led to the banning of smoking on sidewalks which was done under the guise of providing a healthy lifestyle in the town. The new ban which still has […]