Kentucky to Raise Cigarette Tax

A proposal to raise the cigarette tax 40 cents per package and raise taxes on all other smoking products acquired support a few days ago from Government representative. It was one of diverse changes to sakes tax code advised by the commission, which has a deadline till December 2012 to draft a proposal for lawmakers that would make Kentucky’s state tax more competitive.

The commission approved a proposal that would boost Kentucky’s tobacco tax from 60 cents to $1.00 per package and boost the taxes on all other tobacco products. The members of tax commission considered the tax increase as a way to discourage youngsters from smoking and lift revenue.

Several members lobbied for a $1.00 per pack boost. “In case you raised it by $1, you will drop smoking rate among youngsters by 15%. You will save thousands of dollars in health care costs,” stated Sheila Schuster, an executive director of the Advocacy Action Network.

What is the most ethical tobacco company or cigarette brand?

• I believe American Spirit purport to be made from 100% organic tobacco with no chemical additives. The purpose of many of the additives in cigarettes is to affect the body in various ways so as to make it more susceptible to nicotine. Choosing not to put them in is either an ethical choice or a clever marketing ploy.
  Seth, Edinburgh, Scotland

• How can any tobacco company be ethical? They target children worldwide as the next generation of smokers, expand sales in developing countries with less stringent advertising regulations and lower public awareness) are desperate to induce even more women into smoking by associating cigarettes with "caring /feel-good" factors. And from an economic perspective (which seems to be the only thing that counts these days), our increasingly ageing populations simply cannot afford to lose their expensively educated young people so prematurely.
  Sheila Kirby, Esbjerg, Denmark

• I back what Vince says. People have many ideas of what "ethical" is, and it changes over time. The American Indian peace pipe has a different ethical tone to it than the much-maligned Marlboro co. To me, there's a good side and bad side to all things, and since all things are connected, we all have links to something "unethical". Eg: computers run off electricity, which is generally sourced from a mix of fossil fuels, nuclear and renewables, produced by various companies for mixed motives, operated by many different people, who have a much better chance of getting to know each other (and themselves) if they can access the internet and have these discussions. Peace (& yes, I smoke, but not 100% of my time is spent smoking!)
  René Thomas, Huddersfield, UK

• I am a Mohawk living on a reservation in NY, USA. People here do make cigarettes but we encourage young people not to smoke and leave that to a decision made by adults. I do not apologize for my people trying to survive by making a legal product. Also, a company here exports cigarettes to the UK called 1st-nation. These are made with ethically sourced tobacco from Malawi benfitting the underpaid farmers there, and employs Mohawk Natives living on our reservation. I believe these are the first ever Ethically Sourced cigarette. Thanks
  Andre, Akwesasne New York, USA

• 1st-nation have recently launched in the UK and are probably the closest thing to Fairtrade that we are going to get. They voluntarily pay the farmers a premium and also invest in agricultural diversity for these farmers. The various Fairtrade organisations have illogically refused to provide support to tobacco products, so 1st-nation is working with local Malawi farming authorities to set their own ethical standards. Additionally, the brand is priced similarly to other mainstream brands.
  Pritesh Mody, London UK

• Tobacco producers started adding a pesticide to their crops in the 1950's. Cancer was never linked to tobacco previous to this pesticide being added to the crop. Is organic tobacco the answer for those who choose to smoke?
  Andrew, South Shields England

Big tobacco gears up for awesome fight

Big tobacco is gearing up for the fight of its life against the federal government's plan to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes.

The industry has lodged 19 freedom of information (FOI) requests with the health department ahead of possible legal action against the reforms.

The requests seek thousands of official papers dating back to the early 1990s, including all documents created within the first Rudd/Gillard government relating to Labor's preventative health policies to reduce smoking.
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Health department secretary Jane Halton made public the scope of the industry's demands during a budget estimates hearing on Wednesday.

She was responding to a question from Australian Greens health spokesman Rachel Siewert.

"We have 20 FOIs at the moment in respect of this particular issue (tobacco)," Ms Halton said.

"Nineteen of the 20 are from tobacco companies."

The senior bureaucrat tabled the specifics of all 20 requests. She is taking further legal advice before possibly releasing the names of those behind the requests.

In April this year, Labor announced that from mid-2012 cigarettes would have to be sold in plain packets devoid of brand logos, images and colours.

Big tobacco immediately flagged possible legal action against the laws on the basis they would involve acquiring companies' intellectual property.

The government has said it expects cigarette manufacturers to use their combined resources to try to scuttle the move, which would be a world first.

The industry argues plain packages could easily be counterfeited and allow cigarettes to circulate without health warnings and ingredient reporting.

In the FOI requests, big tobacco seeks all documents created between January 2008 and mid-2010 by the National Preventative Health Taskforce relating to "anti-counterfeit measures" and "any anticipated increase in illicit trade".

Among the avalanche of requests, there is also a demand for papers relating to the 1992 legislation regarding advertising bans and the 1994 introduction of health warnings on cigarette packets.