WEB SITE IDENTIFICATION PROCEDURES

There is currently no standardised method of sampling content featured on the world wide web. In the absence of standardised protocols, we employed a searching strategy similar to those utilised in studies of Ewings sarcoma and herbal remedy web sites. Both of these studies identified their study sample by entering multiple keywords into multiple search engines and by assessing either the first 100 or 250 hits from each search to determine web site eligibility for the study.

We used multiple keywords and search engines for several reasons: (1) approximately 85% of internet users rely on a search engine to locate information; (2) industry studies show that users employ approximately three keywords in a given search session; and (3) the best single search engine only covers about 16% of the web, but combining the results of multiple search engines raises coverage to nearly 42%.

To identify the best keywords we began by first locating approximately a dozen ICVs and examining the words featured on each site's main page and metatags. Metatags provide keywords to help search engines find the site. Most browsers have a feature that allows users to view the underlying source code, including metatags. These approaches yielded a pool of 11 potential search keywords (cheap cigarettes, cheap smokes, cheap tobacco, discount cigarettes, discount smokes, discount tobacco, low price cigarette, inexpensive cigarette, mail order cigarette, online cigarette, and tax free cigarette). All 11 potential keywords were then typed into six major search engines used in an earlier study of search engine coverage to determine which keywords were most efficient in identifying ICVs. “Discount cigarette”, “cheap cigarette”, “mail order cigarette”, and “tax free cigarette” were selected as the four best keywords because they were the most efficient in locating ICVs, and at least one of these four keywords appeared in nearly all of the metatags for sites that were found using the other seven potential keywords.

To identify the search engines, we relied on popularity rankings. Media Metrix (www.mediametrix.com) ratings for August 1999 (the most current ratings at the time of the data collection) were used to identify the top five most widely used internet search engines. The four keywords were entered into these search engines, except for Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com), which is a category based internet search catalogue that required a slightly different strategy. Web sites on Yahoo! are organised hierarchically within categories. To identify the Yahoo! categories for cigarette vendors, two keywords—“smoking” and “cigarette”—were searched. The keyword “smoking” yielded 36 category matches and the keyword “cigarette” yielded five category matches. Of these 41 total category matches, only one unique category listed cigarette vendor sites: business and economy> companies>hobbies>smoking.

Let’s get the party started!

Sobranie Cigarettes were first within frames of Russian customs and first produced at the end if XIX century, and at present time it keeps manufacturing in London, and the same place – Old Bond Street. Sobranie cigarettes are designed for cocktail evenings, important persons and luxury. There are different styles like Sobranie Cocktail and Black Russian Cocktail, with filter designed with gold foil and a ring making it familiar with standard Sobranie cigarettes.

Shall we say it is a brand representing high class of society? Yes, Sobranie cigarettes are always accompanied with sumptuous atmosphere and talks about different concepts. Shall we say it is extremely expensive to enjoy it? Definitely not. This brand is not as costly as, for example, Dunhill cigarettes, but much more affordable, and the taste of Sobranie is very pleasant in comparison with other similar products. The main feature of Sobranie cigarettes is that it is made of not just good tobacco blend, but also contains particular components like mint, making the taste always fresh and new.

Russian-style cigarettes as Sobranie can be called so, are very popular on the territory of CIS, and considered to be very expensive brand in this area, and the prize variations are close to Dunhill cigarettes. The body of the pack is embodied with an eagle – Russian emblem – and blends used in these cigarettes suits Russian preferences and flavors.

Other view on Sobranie cigarettes is female positioning, but it doesn’t prevent males from trying it. Of course there is no strict separation, but the elegance of pack, smooth taste and feminine grace of these cigarettes proves feminine orientation. When you appear on the party with Sobranie cigarettes, you immediately become a part of the party and ready to club. The color palette of Sobranie cigarettes contains mostly white, pink or blue variations, and you are to choose what you lie most of all. Disregarding the type you prefer, you will surely get qualitative flavor and taste you paid for and expect to get.

We can speak a lot about numerous advantages of buying cigarettes online, but let’s better speak about ways of obtaining it. Surely you can purchase it through numerous stores and markets, but it is much more preferable to buy it through online stores, as here you may have significant discount on those cigarettes you like or wish to try. So you don’t have to make long journey to the Europe, Russia or Asia. Purchase them through online store without leaving your own place.

How to buy Cigarettes Online

Internet has made things very easy for the people in every walk of life. Now you can easily buy premium cigarette brands on many online cigarette stores. These stores offer different tobacco products for the smokers. The purchase of cheap cigarettes from online cigarette stores is very simple and interesting. You can be able to make purchase of any amount of any premium cigarette brand just by sitting at your home. There are many online cigarette stores available on internet from where you can make purchase of many premium cigarette brands. There are many popular cigarette brands like Camel cigarettes, Marlboro cigarettes, Winston cigarettes, Lucky Strike cigarettes and many other brands are available on these online cigarette stores. There will be no shortage of any tobacco stock on these stores.

The good thing about these online cigarette stores is that you can be able to purchase many premium cigarette brands at very low price as compared to regular cigarettes. The low price of these is because there is no tax or duty on these cigarettes. You just need to go to any online cigarette store and provide some personal information like your name, address and credit card information. You don’t need to worry because your information will be kept secret by these stores. You can order any amount of any premium cigarette brand and delivery of these products will be made at your door step by the cigarettes stores. You can get registration of online cigarette stores in order to choose any premium brand of your choice.

Your request can be canceled if you don’t want to make purchase from these stores and you will get 100% money back guarantee from these stores as well in case cigarettes are damaged or stolen. Online cigarette stores will keep you up to date about your order when you place your order through email. The delivery of your order will be made within 10 to 15 days and it depends on your location. These online cigarette stores have made things very easy for the smoker as they are able to enjoy premium cigarette brands very easily with the help of these stores at very low price. The cigarettes can be delivered any where in the world when you make online purchase.

Online cigarette stores have provided lots of comfort to the smokers as they can be able to purchase any premium brand at very low price on these stores. There is no need to go to the cigarette shops and wait to purchase cigarettes. The price of these cigarettes is very low but quality of these cigarettes is very good. The purchase of these cigarettes is very simple like any online purchase of any other product. You can be able to find your favorite cigarette brand very easily on these online cigarette stores. You just need to pick your favorite cigarette brand and rest will be done by the online cigarette stores. It can be good for the smokers to purchase premium cigarette brand from these stores.

R.J. Reynolds’ cigarette shipment volume

For the second quarter and the first half, higher pricing, lower promotional expense and additional productivity gains, including those from last year’s restructuring at R.J. Reynolds, more than offset the impact of lower cigarette volume, higher pension and legal expense, and MSA costs.
“R.J. Reynolds’ cigarette shipment volume fell 6.0 percent in the second quarter compared with an industry decline of 4.1 percent. That performance was significantly better than the first quarter, largely due to strong Pall Mall volume, as well as trade inventories returning to more normal levels after the federal tax increase,” said Daniel M. Delen, the company’s chairman, president and chief executive.
The company’s first-half cigarette volume decline of 8.1 percent was slightly higher than the industry decline of 7.1 percent.
R.J. Reynolds’ growth brands, Camel and Pall Mall, delivered a strong second-quarter cigarette market share gain of 2.6 percentage points, bringing their combined share to 12.7 percent. That drove the company’s total cigarette market share to 28.7 percent, up 0.4 percentage points.
Camel, the company’s flagship brand, continued to perform well, with a second-quarter total-tobacco market share of 7.8 percent, up 0.3 percentage points over the prior-year quarter.
Camel Crush, which uses R.J. Reynolds’ innovative capsule technology to offer smokers the choice of regular or menthol with each cigarette, posted market share of 0.6 percent in the second quarter even though it has received relatively low promotional support since its national introduction in the third quarter of 2008.
Camel Snus was expanded nationally in the first quarter and continues to gain awareness and trial. The company is also moving forward with its innovative line of dissolvable tobacco products. Camel Orbs went into three lead markets in the first quarter and will be joined by Camel Sticks and Camel Strips this summer.
Pall Mall, R.J. Reynolds’ other growth brand, performed extremely well in the second quarter, with continued high levels of trial and conversion. Its second-quarter market share rose 2.6 percentage points from the prior-year period, to 5.2 percent.
“Pall Mall is a high-quality, longer-lasting cigarette at an attractive price, so it’s particularly appealing in today’s economic environment,” Delen said. “The brand’s most recent promotional period, which coincided with the federal excise tax increase, was widely welcomed by adult smokers as they reevaluated brand choices in light of higher prices. The promotion ended in late May and many of the adult smokers who tried the brand are sticking with Pall Mall.”

Altria Group 1Q profit drops but beats forecast

Cigarette sales dropped 8 percent and profit slipped at the nation's largest tobacco maker, Altria Group Inc., as retailers and wholesalers cut their orders ahead of a one-time federal tax on their inventory, but the company's overall revenue rose in the first quarter.

Tobacco sellers had to pay a "floor" tax of 62 cents per pack on whatever they had on hand before a 62-cent-per-pack retail sales tax went into effect April 1.

The company reported Wednesday that, including interest expenses, charges related to acquiring smokeless tobacco maker UST Inc. and the effects of spinning off Altria's international tobacco business as Philip Morris International, its first-quarter profit slid 76 percent, to $589 million, or 28 cents per share, for the quarter that ended March 31. A year earlier, it earned $2.45 billion, or $1.16 per share.

Excluding those one-time expenses, Altria's earnings rose 5.4 percent to 39 cents per share, meeting the average estimate of Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 2.6 percent from a year earlier to $4.52 billion. Analysts forecast revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter.

Sales of cigars — which weren't covered by the floor tax, and rose in the quarter — helped offset the cigarette sales decline, as did higher prices across the product lineup of the Richmond-based maker of Marlboro, Parliament and Virginia Slims.

Executives hope cigar and smokeless tobacco sales also will help offset the decline in cigarette sales to consumers, who are continuing to cut back due to smoking bans, health concerns and higher prices.

Altria's shares rose 12 cents, less than 1 percent, to $16.85 in afternoon trading.

"It's fair to categorize our first-quarter performance as 'so far, so good,'" Chief Executive Michael E. Szymanczyk said in a conference call with investors.

Much of the revenue increase came from strong sales of Altria's Black & Mild cigars and from UST, the maker of Copenhagen and Skoal. Sales of cigars jumped 26 percent due to higher prices and higher volume.

Revenue in the company's financial services division also rose substantially.

And the 8 percent slip in cigarette sales to $3.9 billion was partially offset by higher prices and lower promotional allowance rates.

In a note to investors, Deutsche Bank North America analyst Marc Greenberg said Altria "has overcome what is likely to be its biggest hurdle" for the year in regard to the inventory rundown.

By volume, Philip Morris USA reported declines among all cigarette brands, including Marlboro, Parliament, Virginia Slims and Basic. Its Marlboro brand, the best-selling cigarette in the U.S., gained 0.5 points of market share to end up with 42.4 percent of the U.S. market, according to data from Information Resources Inc.

"We continue to believe (Philip Morris) USA will produce profit growth for the year; however, the reaction to the pricing will be key in determining the reality of this goal," Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Christopher Growe said in a note to investors.

He called Marlboro's performance "impressive."

Altria said the net price for a pack of Marlboros in the quarter was $4.50 compared with the lowest-priced pack of cigarettes, which was $3.14. But the company said the gap narrowed toward the end of the quarter as retail prices continued to adjust in advance of the federal tax increase.

Like other U.S. tobacco companies, Altria is focusing on cigarette alternatives — such as cigars, snuff and chewing tobacco — for future sales growth because domestic cigarette consumption is falling 3 percent to 4 percent a year.

The company said it believes volume in the smokeless tobacco industry as a whole grew 6 percent to 7 percent in the quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, and machine-made large-cigar volume grew 4 percent compared with a year earlier.

Altria also offered full-year profit guidance of between $1.70 and $1.75 per share for continuing operations excluding one-time charges. That's up from $1.65 per share on that basis in 2008. Analysts, whose estimates typically exclude special items and discontinued operations, predict profit of $1.73 per share.

Is Cigarette Tax a problem?

I've been reading and hearing a lot of opinions about the extra dollar per pack on cigarettes and it reminds me of what we were taught in school about how America first became a country of its own. The English were charging too much tax on tea and there was a term called taxation without representation.
Shouldn't we tax hamburgers, French fries, doughnuts and candy bars, and anything else fattening? Then we can tax things with too much salt or caffeine.
Do you see where this is going? You can't fairly tax one thing more than another, and the real problem is the budget and the lack of revenue and it's not fair to pick one group of the population to bail out the rest.
The government can't manage the budget with the taxes they have now and can't cut anymore then raise taxes on everything evenly.

Cigarette machines may be banned

Cigarette vending machines and packets of 10 could be outlawed under government plans aimed at preventing children and young people smoking.

The plans, which include banning branding and logos, apply to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Similar plans have been unveiled in Scotland.

Smokers' lobby group Forest said there was "no evidence" to show the plans would to cut smoking in young people.

Meanwhile, a new TV advert campaign is targeting parents who smoke.

The adverts warn that children of smokers are three times more likely to take up the habit than those of non-smokers.

Under current pricing, a packet of 10 cigarettes cost about £3, compared to nearly £6 for 20.

Last week the Scottish Government announced a range of proposals to restrict tobacco sales in Scotland - including a ban in shops from displaying cigarettes in "pride of place" on their shelves.

On the latest consultation document, Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said it was vital to take away temptation from children.

"Protecting children from smoking is a government priority and taking away temptation is one way to do this," she said.

"If banning brightly coloured packets, removing cigarettes from display and removing the cheap option of a pack of 10 helps save lives, then that is what we should do, but we want to hear everyone's views first."

Why state wants fire-safe cigarettes

Relaxation gives way to sleep and the cigarettes falls, not onto the person but onto the bed.
Jerry Lojka, fire marshal for the Midwest City Fire Department, has investigated this and other fatal scenarios in the last six or seven years where a person died as because of a fire caused by an unattended cigarette.
That's why he coordinated support for legislation requiring the sale of fire-safe cigarettes .
These cigarettes are designed to stop burning at one of several bands if the cigarette is left unattended.
House Bill 3341, authored by Rep. Mike Thompson, R-Oklahoma City, passed unanimously in the Senate and the House and has been signed by Gov. Brad Henry.
Retailers will be required to sell only "fire-safe” cigarettes, or cigarettes that contain the bands that automatically extinguish a cigarette that is left unattended.

Other states have passed laws yet to go into effect. Oklahoma is the 18th state having passed such a law that is yet to take effect.
"We will see it save lives, there's no doubt about it,” Lojka said.
The rest of the scenario
A cigarette on the bed unchecked for 10 to 12 minutes can create "enough heat that it will allow it to smolder,” Lojka said.
"And this process can take two hours or more for it to go from smoldering to a full-blown fire,” he adds.
If the smoke detector doesn't go off, or if it doesn't wake the person, a great deal of smoke is generated before the flames erupt.
What are the bands expected to do?
Tobacco companies have to put a band 15 mm from the lighted end of the cigarette and another band 10 mm from the labeled end of the cigarette.
"So what happens is if somebody lights up and they take a couple of drags,” he said. But if they fall asleep, "Five to seven minutes later it reaches that second band and the cigarette goes out,” he said.
Lojka hopes with the new cigarettes, the scenario will change to something like this: A person goes to bed, falls asleep, the cigarette falls onto the bed and one of the bands causes the cigarette to stop burning.

Bill Would Mandate Fire-Safe Cigarettes Be Sold In Tennessee

Legislation that would allow only fire-safe cigarettes to be sold in Tennessee is headed to the governor for his consideration.

The measure sponsored by Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Rosalind Kurita, a Clarksville Democrat, unanimously passed the Senate last year and was approved in the House 97-1 earlier this month.

But the bill didn't go to the governor until Thursday because both chambers had to work out some differences.

The law would only allow the sale of cigarettes made with paper that self-extinguishes if left untouched by the smoker.

Supporters say they reduce the risk of accidental fires.

Six states have mandated the sale of fire-safe cigarettes and 20 others are considering it.

Gov. Phil Bredesen could not be immediately reached for comment about whether he will sign the bill.

Solons eye replacing text with pictures on cigarette packs

A bill aiming to replace the current text warnings on cigarettes packs with pictures on the effects of smoking will be discussed in the committee on health Tuesday at the House of Representatives.
Under HB 3364 or the Picture-Based Health Warning Bill, all packages of cigarettes and other tobacco products shall have colored and graphic health warnings on their front and back panels to warn the public about the hazardous effects of smoking.
"Madali lang po makinig [pero] hindi naman natin talaga nakikita yung mga nangyayari. Pag nakita po talaga natin, baka magdalawang isip na tayo, [It's easy to listen, we never really get to see the effects. Maybe if we do, we may change our minds]" Congresswoman Anna York Bondoc, co-author of the bill, said.
If the bill is implemented, the sale of cigarettes that do not have the graphic health warnings will be banned, while descriptions of the brand such as "low tar, "light," ultra-light," and "mild" that might mislead the public will be removed, Bondoc said.
Cigarette manufacturers will also be mandated to shoulder the printing expenses of the picture-based health warnings, she said.
Manufacturers, importers, exporters, and distributors not complying with the rules will pay a fine of P1 million on the first offense, P5 million on the second offense, and P20 million on the third offense. An imprisonment of not more than one year may also be imposed on the third offense upon the discretion of the court, according to the bill.
Implementation of the bill is targeted for Sept. 6, 2008, the deadline of the compliance of the Philippines with the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), according to Congresswoman Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, co-author of HB 3364.
The FCTC is a world treaty on smoking which took effect in 2005 with 350 countries, including the Philippines, as signatories. Other countries, such as Canada and Singapore have imposed the use of picture-based health warnings on cigarette packs.
"Kung nagawa nga ng iba, bakit hindi natin magawa dito [If other countries were able to implement it, why not here]?" said Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo, FCTC Program Manager of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance.
He cited the cigarette packs with image warnings that were being sold in Thailand but manufactured in the Philippines.

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Curing tobacco with less wood

Malawi has grown tobacco for over 100 years now with the first tobacco seeds introduced in the country in 1893. First tobacco exports from the then Nyasaland are reported to have taken place at the turn of the 20th Century.
Today cigarettes is the biggest forex earner in the country bringing in 60 percent of the country’s export revenue and it is the largest employer in rural areas with 70 percent of the workforce in the industry.
However the boom in the cigarettes industry has brought with it its own negative consequences, especially in matters to do with the environment.
According to Nico Nijenhuis, a research student from the University of Twente in The Netherlands, and currently on an internship with GTZ/ProBEC, Malawi has an estimated 10,000 smallholder tobacco growers, 65 percent of whom use wood to cure tobacco.
Nijenhuis says it takes a single small holder farmer 13.5kilogrammes of wood to cure a single kg of tobacco.
According to German Scholar, Helmut Geist who conducted a Global Assessment of Reforestation Related to Tobacco Farming in 1999, Malawi clears 55,000 hectares of woodlands annually to cure tobacco.
Heist pegged the percentage of tobacco related deforestation in Malawi at 26.1 percent, representing a quarter of all the deforestation that happens in the country.
Today some analysts suggest that these figures might have increased significantly as production has switched away from politically unstable (yet fuel-efficient) Zimbabwe to other Southern African countries like Malawi where wood is the only practical fuel for curing flue cured tobacco.
And again the rise in demand for Malawian Flue Cured Tobacco as evidenced by the rise in prices at the auction floors has encouraged farmers to grow more of it.
This season government has set the minimum selling price for Flue Cured Tobacco at $2.20/kg (K316) while its counterpart, Burley, which is air cured is at a minimum of a $1.61/kg (K231).
Such good prices are not doing the country’s forests any justice. Farmers, most of whom do not have and woodlots of their own, continue to cut down trees wantonly in order to have fuel for curing their tobacco.
And most of the trees that are cut are from indigenous forests, never to be replaced.
Concerned with the alarming levels of deforestation, Alliance One, GTZ, ProBEC and Total Land Care teamed up to look at energy efficient ways of curing tobacco.
The answer to this problem was the rocket barn.

Hike Florida cigarette tax by $1 a pack

It’s time for our state to recommit to fighting tobacco use, especially among teens. The dangers of smoking and its toll on lives are not new, but 4,000 kids try their first cigarette every day. We must create ways to keep our young people from lighting up in the first place.
Raising the tax on cigarettes is a proven way to deter kids from starting, and gives current smokers another incentive to quit. Every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by about 7 percent and overall cigarette consumption by about 4 percent.
The District of Columbia and 43 states have raised their cigarettes tax rates more than 75 times since January 2002, more than doubling the national average cigarette tax from 43.4 cents to $1.07 per pack.
Our state is behind the times; Florida last raised its cigarette taxes in 1990. Florida ranks 46th in the nation, as our current taxes are just 34 cents per pack. Even Tennessee, a well-known tobacco-producing state, has introduced cigarette taxes nearly double those in our state.
Budget woes are grabbing headlines these days. Raising the tobacco tax by $1 per pack will raise $822 million annually — a simple solution to our state’s budget deficit and a highly effective way to reduce smoking. It seems like a reasonable solution to me.

Move to make central jail tobacco-free

In what has come as a fresh initiative aimed at better health of inmates, the authorities at the Nagpur Central Jail have vigorously launched a campaign to ensure that the jail becomes a ‘tobacco-free’ zone.

However, the move has not gone down well with the prisoners. Sounding a note of protest, the inmates have challenged the jail authorities move, with the criterion mentioned in the prison manual that allows tobacco use. Despite a strong opposition and adverse reactions from the prisoners, Nagpur central jail officials have stood their ground so far. And as a step forward, the authorities have withdrawn cigarettes products from the prison canteen.

"Government is spending a big amount on the health of the prisoners. Tobacco is injurious to health," claimed Surinder Kumar, deputy inspector general of police, prisons (eastern region). Several young prisoners dying in the jail has recently raised concern that prompted him to take the decision, he added. "Though I agree that jail manual allows prisoners to use tobacco, we are trying to make an effort for the general well-being of the inmates," Kumar told TOI, over phone from Mumbai.

Kumar said that the tobacco use, particularly by prisoners suffering from ailments like tuberculosis and HIV, is dangerous. "Apart from ruining one’s health, passive smokers also become victims in jail due to restrictions on their free movement," he said.

Dr Rajesh Kochhar, chief medical officer, Central jail, claimed that about 26 prisoners were suffering from tuberculosis and AIDS and of these, eight are HIV positive. "Smoking in prison is certainly a cause for concern and the issue had to be addressed at some point or the other. Prisoners are complaining a lot and are uncomfortable.... we should be able to phase out cigarettes from the jail premises by inculcating better self-discipline and helping them to become strong-willed," Dr Kochhar said.

R U Gaikwad, deputy superintendent of police, Central Jail, claimed that jail authorities were trying to convince the prisoners to desist from cigarettes use. "We are trying hard to convince the prisoners, but we have faced stiff opposition. They have even threatened to take us to court and launch a stir. Unfortunately, they are not trying to realise that the move was taken for their betterment," Gaikwad said.

Ohio proposes 'fire safe' cigarettes

CLEVELAND -- House Bill 500 aims to cut down fire deaths caused by cigarettes .

New York was the first and in all 23 states have already passed legislation requiring cigarette manufacturers provide self extinguishing cigarettes.

The cigarettes are banded so they stop burning when the smoker stops puffing.

A year after New York's law was enacted, fire deaths blamed on cigarettes dropped by a third.

In 2005, 19 people died from cigarette related fires in Ohio. Fifty-nine people were injured.

Cigarette manufacturers support new legislation as long as it's similar to New York's law.

They're already making banded cigarettes for states that have enacted laws. To learn more about the bill and the campaign click on the links provided below.

Smokers Don't Like New Cigarette Tax

Smokers seem to be protesting a new state tax on cigarettes that went into effect on the first of the year.

The $1.00 tax hike on each pack of cigarettes has prompted a good number of smokers to put down their lighters.

"I've seen a decrease of my customers coming in the store because of the tax. they have to quit," said Debbie Martinez of the Cigarette Depot.

In some cases, smokers get their cigarettes from a cheaper source, such as on-line or in other states.

Some customers who haven't been able to kick the habit, have cut back.

"Before the tax, I may have bought four packs," said one smoker. "Now I buy three, (there's) no other way of dealing with it."

In January of this year, about 24,000,000 packs were sold. Last year, 29,000,000 were sold.

Governor Doyle says calls to the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line have more than doubled since the tax went into effect.

Thief takes cash, cigarettes

Cash and cigarettes were taken during a robbery at the Mac's Convenience Store at King and Bethune streets yesterday morning, city police said.

Police said a man approached the female clerk at 3:30 a.m., produced a black-handled knife with a five-inch blade and demanded money.

He was last seen heading east on King Street.

He's described as white, in his early to mid 30s, standing five-foot-five to six-feet tall.

He has a medium build with short, brown hair and was unshaven.

He was wearing a black coat over another coat, blue jeans and a black Toronto Raptors baseball cap.