Tobacco Products

Smokers in Maryland will have to pay an extra buck to light up Tuesday when a $2 cigarette tax goes into effect statewide. The $1-a-pack increase - passed into law last month during a special session of the Maryland General Assembly - means Maryland has, with five other states, the fourth-highest cigarette tax in the nation, according to data from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Maine and Michigan also have $2-a-pack levies. Baltimore smokers interviewed yesterday had mixed emotions about the increase.

THE LYING stops today."-- Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., accusing the tobacco industry of years of deception about the effects of its products and marketing strategies.May 23 -- The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. conceded today that its controversial advertisement -- "You just nailed that archery merit badge! Time to unwind. Time for . . . a Salem!" -- may have targeted the youth market."Still, millions of adult archery enthusiasts enjoy tobacco products responsibly," a company spokesman said, adding R.J. Reynolds would most likely drop its entire "Scouting and Salems: A Winning Combination!

The Howard County Council approved unanimously last night a bill that would ban self-service tobacco displays in stores, the second Maryland county to do so recently. The members, who also chose a new chairman for 2001, brushed aside complaints from tobacco lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano that such laws are illegal and followed Montgomery County's lead in requiring tobacco products to be displayed behind a counter or in a way that requires a clerk to make a sale. The Montgomery County Council passed its ordinance Nov. 14. It was signed into law six days later by County Executive Douglas M. Duncan.

To lift a burden from the police, Baltimore County lawmakers authorized the Health Department last year to take over the task of imposing fines on store clerks who sell cigarettes to underage teenagers. But the county hasn't been doing that job - intentionally - because officials say they are opposed to using minors in sting operations. The county's approach is drawing criticism from some legal and health advocates who say it is not an effective deterrent. "You can shake your finger, but if there's no repercussions, what will make a person think twice about it?"

WASHINGTON -- The nation's largest makers of cigarettes and chewing tobacco promised yesterday to accept strict limits on how they sell their products -- from outlawing vending machines to banning all sales to minors -- provided that the government is barred from regulating nicotine as a drug.Philip Morris USA, which makes Marlboro and is top cigarette producer, and UST Inc., which produces Skoal and is the leading maker of smokeless tobacco, said their joint proposal was intended -- just as is the Clinton administration's sweeping plan to regulate tobacco sales -- to curb the use of their products by anyone under 18.Their proposals, however, drew a skeptical reaction from the the Food and Drug Administration and scorn from anti-smoking activists.

A tax increase on small cigars and other tobacco products popular with teenagers has resulted in a bump in the prices of these products just as health advocates had hoped. The Maryland Health Care for All! Coalition will release a study today showing that prices have increased since the tax went into affect July 1. For instance, a single Swisher Sweets flavored cigar cost $1.29 before the tax and now costs $1.69.  A 5-pack of Swisher Sweets cost $5.49 before the tax and now costs $7.99.

Those of us who work in the news business are well-accustomed to hearing the lament that it would be nice to see some positive things get a little bit of publicity. We're also a bit sensitive to it not because the lament is well-founded, but because there's never really a shortage of good news, and a fair amount of good news generally finds its way into print. The problem is, unfortunately, bad news is often more useful than good news, and it's generally what we focus on. A deer causes a bad accident.

Negotiators for a landmark tobacco settlement, emerging from weeks of private talks, plan to take a draft of the pact on the road starting today in an effort to generate public support for the deal.Public health measures in the package -- banning smoking in the workplace, eliminating advertising, requiring ingredient disclosure in cigarettes and new warning labels -- are all agreed to and on paper, participants in the talks say.Details of some of the other provisions concerning financial, legal and regulatory issues are still being ironed out, but negotiators say resolution is within reach.

The House of Delegates gave preliminary approval yesterday to a bill prohibiting the sale of cigarettes through coin-operated vending machines -- an objective sought by anti-tobacco legislators for more than a decade. A final vote on the bill, intended to keep tobacco products out of the hands of children, could come as early as today. The bill would prohibit the use of vending machines to sell tobacco products unless they are set up to accept only tokens, which would be sold by the establishments where the machines are located.

The tobacco industry, fighting to keep anti-smoking legislation from spreading from state capitals to county seats and city halls, won at least a temporary victory in the Maryland House of Delegates yesterday.By a 75-53 vote, the House approved an amendment to a bill that would increase state penalties for cigarette sales to minors. The amendment -- pushed by Tobacco Institute lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano -- strips a provision that said the legislation was not intended to pre-empt more stringent anti-smoking laws by local governments.