In the News / Tobacco / Summer 2002

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Archived tobacco article descriptions and ID#s have been divided into quarters to decrease page download time.

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"Teens seek beach, park smoking ban" (Dana Littlefield, The San Diego Union Tribune, Sept. 28, 2002) -- Californians are already prohibited from smoking in bars, restaurants, public buildings and near playgrounds. Now, a youth advocacy group is working to extend the ban to beaches and parks. The small group of teens from the Youth Tobacco Prevention Corps, an offshoot of the San Dieguito Alliance for Drug Free Youth, have been working since February to educate children, parents and local legislators about the dangers of tobacco.— ID# 6013

"States become addicted to tobacco" (George Will, The San Diego Union Tribune, Sept. 26, 2002) -- Let us stipulate that the world would be better without cigarettes. But steadily accumulating evidence indicates that many government tobacco policies, purportedly designed to discourage smoking but not too much, are bizarre. In the 1990s, states sued tobacco companies, ostensibly to recoup costs to them of their residents' smoking. Put plainly, which is not how states like to have it put, the primary aim was to recoup the cost of treating illnesses related to the legal use of a legal product known to pose health hazards.— ID# 6007

"Williams Seeks Income, Tobacco Tax Increases" (Craig Timberg, The Washington Post, Sept. 24, 2002) -- Mayor Anthony A. Williams yesterday proposed raising the city's cigarette tax to $1 a pack and imposing a temporary income tax increase on all Washingtonians earning more than $50,000 a year as he struggled to close a mounting budget gap. The tax increases are part of a $323 million package of measures Williams outlined to D.C. Council members in a series of meetings yesterday. As Congress pushes for a quick remedy, city officials are scrambling to fix the budget, racked by the plunging stock market and a tepid economy, before the fiscal year begins Tuesday.— ID# 6001

"Youth group lobbies for smoke-free beaches" (Adam Kaye, The North County Times, Sept. 22, 2002) -- Armed with statistics, a high-tech presentation and a tub full of cigarette butts, a youth group this week enlisted the support of three city councils to snuff teen smoking. The Youth Tobacco Prevention Corps' visits to Encinitas, Del Mar and Solana Beach prompted proclamations by three mayors to establish the week of Sept. 28 to Oct. 4 as "Smoke Free Beach and Parks Week."— ID# 5996

"Blowing Smoke" (The Los Angeles Times, Sept. 22, 2002) -- There was the Mission Viejo City Council, teetering on the brink of being dangerously silly, before pulling itself back from the edge. The council was considering a total ban on smoking in public parks. It's already illegal in California to light up on a playground; this would have pushed smokers off the grounds altogether. It's one thing to ban smoking in enclosed areas such as offices, public buildings and restaurants. A mountain of evidence proves the dangers of breathing secondhand smoke indoors.— ID# 5993

"Study shows booming illegal cigarettes sales to kids" (El Cajon Gazette, Sept. 10, 2002) -- East County study shows 77 percent of stores do not ask minors their age. Public Health Community urges licensing of Tobacco Retailers. Citing a study that shows illegal cigarette sales to kids have gone up by more than 50 percent in the last two years, the Tobacco Free Communities Coalition, led by the American Lung Association, American Heart Association and American Cancer Society recently urged the San Diego City Council to take strong action against stores that sell cigarettes to minors.— ID# 5989

"Study shows television ads drive down youth smoking " (Reuters Health, Sept. 18, 2002) -- Preliminary results from an American Legacy Foundation study show the anti-smoking group's "truth" campaign is helping to lower smoking rates among US youth, the foundation said on Wednesday. According to the group, smoking prevalence among high school students who have had "high exposure" to the campaign's television commercials has declined 29% since 2000.— ID# 5975

"Governor signs HIV treatment, tobacco-regulation measures " (Louise Chu, The San Diego Union Tribune, Sept. 19, 2002) -- AIDS activists declared a major legislative victory yesterday, as Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill that will provide treatment to HIV patients in the early stages of the disease. The governor also signed several other health-related bills, including three to further regulate tobacco sales and one to create the Asthma and Lung Disease Research Fund.— ID# 5976

" Firms Still Deny Harm in Smoking, Report Says" (Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 18, 2002) -- Several major tobacco companies are continuing to deny in court filings that smoking causes disease, even though in recent years they have publicly acknowledged the health hazards of their products, a congressional staff report said Tuesday. Over the last five years, cigarette makers, struggling to repair their tattered image, have conceded on their Web sites that there are significant risks associated with smoking--in some instances making statements that are hardly different from the views of their longtime foes.— ID# 5971

"O.C. City Throws Water on Smoke Ban" (by Dave McKibben, The Los Angeles Times, Sept. 17, 2002) -- After listening to hours of emotional testimony from residents, the Mission Viejo City Council on Monday backed down from adopting a measure that would have been one of the toughest anti-smoking ordinances in the nation.— ID# 5960

"Oregonians to Vote on Cigarette Tax" (by John Moritz, The New York Times, Sept. 15, 2002) -- Oregon residents are voting this week on a cigarette tax increase and a boost in school aid in an effort to stem the state's budget problems. Votes will be tallied Tuesday for a measure that would raise the cigarette tax by 60 cents and another that would take $150 million from a Lottery-fed education endowment fund to shore up state school aid. Neither measure faces organized opposition.— ID# 5958

"City May Widen Ban on Smoking" (by Mike Anton, The Los Angeles Times, Sept. 16, 2002) -- The Mission Viejo City Council today will consider a wide-ranging anti-smoking ordinance that would prohibit people from lighting up in any city-owned building, vehicle or public park. If approved, the ordinance would place Mission Viejo on the cutting edge of anti-smoking regulations.— ID# 5955

"Class action suit against tobacco firms dismissed " (by Greg Moran, The San Diego Union Tribune, Sept. 14, 2002) -- A San Diego judge has tentatively dismissed a class-action suit against major tobacco companies, ruling the legal action violates the free speech rights of the companies. Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Prager issued his ruling Thursday. It came about a month before the case, brought by four San Diego teen-agers on behalf of all California minors who smoked a cigarette from April 1994 to December 1999, was scheduled for trial. — ID# 5957

"Potent warning on smoke" (by Patrice Jones, The Chicago Tribune, Sept. 13, 2002) -- The young woman took a long, slow drag from her Hollywood cigarette as if the act of inhaling sent her cares drifting away in a trail of curling smoke. Taking a break from university classes in the warm sun, Sylvania dos Santos looked the part of the longtime stereotype of Brazilian women--young and beautiful. She did not seem to notice at all the graphic color advertisement plastered on the back of her cigarette pack, which showed a man and woman in bed, looking depressed.— ID# 5948

"Smoke-free restaurants are good health policy" (by Wayne Hanson, The Chicago Tribune, Sept. 13, 2002) -- The public health community commends Mayor Richard Daley for being open to proposals by two Chicago aldermen to ban smoking in all Chicago restaurants ("Daley open to snuffing out restaurant smoking," Metro, Aug. 29). Ald. Edward Burke (14th) and Ald. Ed Smith (28th) are sponsoring legislation to make the city's restaurants smoke-free. The mayor and the aldermen understand that secondhand smoke kills.— ID# 5947

"More people die from cigarettes than alcohol" (by Jennifer Cootware, The North County Times, Sept. 13, 2002) -- I've been reading some letters lately from people writing in on the alcohol vs. smoking tax situation and thought I'd send in a letter clarifying why smokers pay more in taxes in comparison. First of all, smoking causes more deaths than alcohol use, motor accidents, AIDS, homicides, suicides and illicit drug use combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. — ID# 5945

"Effectiveness of stop-smoking aids questioned" (by Cheryl Clark, The San Diego Union Tribune, Sept. 11, 2002) -- Nicotine replacement products such as gum and patches have lost their effectiveness in helping smokers quit long term, a UCSD study has found. "These products have a role in removing symptoms of nicotine withdrawal when you're trying to quit, which is important," John P. Pierce, University of California San Diego professor and lead author of the report, said yesterday. — ID# 5937

"Southeast Asian countries call for ban on tobacco advertising" (By Uamdao Noikorn, Yahoo News, September 5, 2002) -- Alarmed by rising numbers of juvenile and female smokers in Southeast Asia, government representatives from across the region called Wednesday for tougher anti-tobacco regulations including a total ban on advertising. The call was made at the end of a three-day meeting in Bangkok of officials from 10 Southeast Asian countries to forge a common stand ahead of negotiations for a global anti-tobacco treaty.— ID# 5914

"Marketing at Philip Morris" (By Dow Jones, The New York Times, September 5, 2002) -- Philip Morris USA will increase promotional spending in the second half of the year in the face of overall retail share declines in the first six months of the year. Philip Morris USA, the domestic tobacco operating unit of the Philip Morris Companies, said it would expand its promotional presence at the retail level for four brands.— ID# 5912

"Grace Magazine Says No to Tobacco, Loss-Weight Ads" (By Reuters, Yahoo News, September 3, 2002) -- Grace, the recently launched magazine for full-figured women, on Tuesday said it will not carry weight-loss and tobacco-related advertising since it opposes their message to readers, but said it does not see a negative impact on its revenue.— ID# 5905

"Asian Americans Targeted for Tobacco Promotion" (By Bob Burton, Yahoo News, September 2, 2002) -- Their findings in the September 2002 edition of 'Tobacco Control', published by the British Medical Journal, add to revelations that the tobacco industry developed detailed strategies for other specific groups including African Americans and the homosexual community.— ID# 5898

"Vice Fund Hopes Cigarettes, Booze Pay Off" (By Kathie O'Donnell, The Los Angeles Times, September 3, 2002) -- Vanguard Group has a ship as its logo. T. Rowe Price Group Inc. uses a bighorn sheep. To represent its new Vice Fund, Mutuals.com chose a cigarette, a martini, dice and a gun sight. Vice Fund, which begins trading today, will be the first open-end mutual fund focused on "socially irresponsible" investments, buying shares of companies such as Philip Morris Cos., Anheuser-Busch Cos., Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corp., said co-manager Dan Ahrens.— ID# 5891

"Passive smoke worse in workplace than in home" (By Alison McCook, Reuters Health, August 30, 2002) -- Nonsmoking women who are exposed to tobacco smoke in the workplace may have a higher risk of developing lung cancer than those who live with a smoking spouse, German researchers report.— ID# 5871

"Internet tobacco bill goes to Gov. Davis" (The Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2002) -- Legislation that would crack down on people selling cigarettes to children over the Internet won support from both houses of Congress with a 51-15 vote. The bill now requires the approval of Gov. Gray Davis.— ID# 5869

" Global youth smoking rates big 'problem' " (by Associated Press, The San Diego Union Tribune, August 30, 2002) -- Health officials are taking a snapshot of child smoking rates around the world, and they say the preliminary findings are alarming. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, one in four children ages 13 to 15 smokes cigarettes. In Moscow, it's one in three, and in the Northern Mariana Islands, nearly 40 percent of children in that age bracket smoke.— ID# 5872

"Daley open to snuffing out restaurant smoking" (The Chicago Tribune, August 29, 2002) -- Daley, who has been reluctant to support far-reaching anti-smoking measures, told reporters he has an open mind on a proposal sponsored by Ald. Edward Burke (14th) and Ald. Ed Smith (28th) that would go beyond the current restaurant requirement to set aside a certain percentage of tables in designated no-smoking areas.— ID# 5867

"Study links second-hand smoke to heart disease" (Reuters Health, August 29, 2002) -- Being exposed to other people's cigarette smoke dramatically increases the risk of heart disease, researchers in Greece show in a study published Thursday. The study in the British Medical Association's quarterly specialist journal Tobacco Control suggested banning smoking in the workplace was the best way to protect smokers from giving their non-smoking colleagues heart attacks.— ID# 5862

"14 percent of world youth smoke, survey finds" (Reuters Health, August 29, 2002) -- Fourteen percent of teens aged 13 to 15 smoke worldwide, but two-thirds of them want to quit, a survey released on Wednesday finds. A quarter of all kids who smoke started by the age of 10, the report, by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, the World Health Organization and the Canadian Public Health Association found.— ID# 5861

"Teens' Tobacco Addiction Faster Than Once Thought" (by Thomas Maugh, The Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2002) -- Police arrested nine current and former McIntosh College students on drug charges Tuesday after a raid on a college dormitory that the police chief called "an open-air drug market like we've never seen in the city." Chief William Fenniman said police would push to close the dorm, where most of the suspects lived, under a federal law aimed at crack houses.— ID# 5858

"Ohio's Top Court Bars Local Smoking Bans in All Public Places" (Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2002) -- Local health boards are not allowed to ban smoking in all public places when the Legislature specifically exempted bars and restaurants from such bans, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. Anti-smoking groups said that they would continue their crusade and take their pleas for smoking bans directly to the voters.— ID# 5857

"Old Enough to Vote but Not Smoke? Whatever" (by Susan Carpenter, The Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2002) -- The 19-year-old art major, who began smoking as "a form of venting," is old enough to vote, work and go to war. But if a bill pending in the California Legislature gets an eleventh-hour burst of energy, he would no longer be old enough to buy cigarettes. The bill calls for raising the minimum legal age for purchasing cigarettes in California from 18 to 21--the highest in the country. While 18 remains the standard in most states, Alabama, Alaska and Utah have raised their minimums to 19.— ID# 5856

"Smoke Ban on Menu for City" (by Sabrina Miller, The Chicago Tribune, August 28, 2002) -- The City Council's anti-smoking crusaders are teaming up again to try to ban patrons from lighting up in Chicago restaurants. Following a similar proposal that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced earlier this month, Ald. Ed Smith (28th) and Ald. — ID# 5851—

"City seizes 237, 000 Black-Market Cigarettes" (by Times Wire, The Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2002) -- But smoker advocates say black-market sales will only grow in New York, where a tax increase has pushed cigarettes to $7.50 a pack and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is waging a policy war against smoking.— ID# 5849—

" Effort to Raise Smoking Age 21 dies in Assembly committee" (by Associated Press, The North County Times, August 28, 2002) -- A last-minute legislative maneuver to save a proposal that would have made California the first in the nation to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21 died in an Assembly committee Monday. Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, pulled his bill, SB 1680, from the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee, much to the dismay of Assemblyman Rod Pacheco, R-Riverside, who had amended the senator's bill last week to include raising the smoking age.— ID# 5850

August 27, 2002 —The New York Times — New York, New York— A Jubilant Barroom Toast to Smoke-Free Air— Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's proposal to extend New York's smoking ban to all offices, bars and restaurants — even pool halls, bowling alleys and bingo parlors — would not make the city the first to have such a law. California and dozens of towns and counties already have similar laws. But with all eyes on New York, a new law would send a strong message to the many cities and states that lag on this important health measure.— ID# 5846

August 27, 2002 —The Chicago Tribune — Chicago, Illinois— Smoking remains a prop in films— In reality, smoking is a nasty addiction linked to a bevy of medical problems. Yet in Hollywood, tobacco products remain a favorite prop. In scripted scenes, they serve as accent marks and exclamation points. For actors, they are as character-defining as a lisp or a way of walking -- try to imagine Humphrey Bogart without a cigarette dangling from his lips.— ID# 5844—

August 23, 2002 —The New York Times — New York, New York— The N.B.A. Regretfully Cancels a Lorillard Sponsorship— THE National Basketball Association and the Lorillard Tobacco Company are blaming anti-tobacco activists for the decision to remove the cigarette maker's Youth Smoking Prevention Program as a sponsor of a popular youth basketball tournament. The decision was disclosed by the league and Lorillard yesterday, three weeks after the league quietly canceled a contract with Lorillard, a division of the Loews Corporation , to be a sponsor of the N.B.A.'s Hoop-It-Up three-on-three basketball tournament.— ID# 5840—

August 23, 2002 —The New York Times — New York, New York— Nassau May Follow City's Lead on Antismoking Proposal— Democratic lawmakers in Nassau County introduced tough new antismoking legislation today that would mirror the strict ban on smoking in all New York City restaurants and bars proposed this month by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Nassau legislators said they also hoped to reach agreement with Suffolk and Westchester Counties, which have been considering their own tougher laws, to create an eight-county no-smoking zone across lower New York State.— ID# 5839—

Editorial — August 24, 2002 —The Chicago Tribune — Chicago, Illinois— Clearing the air— Bravo to the Tribune for taking a decisive stand to protect the health of Illinoisans through its support of stronger clean indoor air laws in Illinois ("New York's squeeze on smoking," Editorial, Aug. 19). Your editorial makes crystal clear the many health dangers of secondhand smoke and demystifies some of the arguments against better clean indoor air laws.— ID# 5837—

August 21, 2002 — Reuters Health— New York smokers fired up over proposed smoking ban— As bartender Ciaran Hegarty mixed cocktails at the Times Square watering hole Langan's, it wasn't the city's sweltering summer that got him heated, but a plan to ban smoking from all local bars and restaurants. "You get rid of the smoking and next will be the drinking, then the conversation," predicted Hegarty, himself a smoker. "It's another small freedom disappearing, that's what it is."— ID# 5829

August 22, 2002 — The Los Angeles Times— Los Angeles, California—Smoky View of Libertarianism— Smoking crusaders like to think of themselves as big libertarians. "It's my right to puff where I like," they rave. "What I do with and to my body is none of the government's business." That is the same tired, specious bit of civics they flung at then-New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in January 1995 when he signed into law the Smoke-Free Air Act, which prohibited smokers from lighting up in the dining areas of all restaurants seating more than 35 and confined smoking to bar areas.— ID# 5823

August 22, 2002 — The San Diego Union Tribune— San Diego California —Smoking-age bill appears dead in committee — A widely watched measure to raise the state's legal smoking age to 21 was left for dead in a Senate committee yesterday just hours after the Assembly embraced the concept for the first time. The bill was held without debate by the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it had been sent because of fiscal implications, notably the potential to cost the state up to $26 million a year in lost tobacco taxes. — ID# 5822

Editorial — August 18, 2002 — The Chicago Tribune— Chicago, Illinois— Bid Farewell to the Cigarette Century— Some of my smoking pals in New York City feel outraged and betrayed at the apparent perfidy of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's anti-smoking crusade. Then, at a time when the city already was hot enough to melt a landlord's heart, he drops this bombshell He is asking the New York City Council to extend the city's anti-smoking law to include all restaurants and bars.— ID# 5803—

Editorial — August 19, 2002 — The Sacramento Bee— Sacramento, California— Smoking is a bad habit, but so is basing budget on a tax gimmick—Smoking cigarettes is a dirty, expensive, extremely unhealthy and, therefore, really stupid practice, and fortunately for themselves and the rest of us, about 80 percent of California's adults don't do it. That said, even nonsmokers should be leery about the current Democratic proposal to nearly triple state taxes on cigarettes, raising them to $3 a pack, as a means of relieving pressure on a deficit-ridden state budget. It's suspection several levels, including social equity and fiscal good sense.— ID# 5801—

Editorial — August 19, 2002 — Reuters Health— Fewer US teens may be smoking, using drugs: survey—US high school students have an easier time buying marijuana than cigarettes and beer, according to a national survey of public school students. At the same time, more public schools are drug free than in the past 7 years. The researchers found that the roughly one third of teenagers surveyed who said they had an easier time buying marijuana were 1.5 times more likely than their peers to use drugs.— ID# 5799

August 19, 2002 — The Los Angeles Times— Los Angeles, California— Philip Morris Trial Set to Begin—A Newport Beach woman who contracted lung cancer after decades of smoking is headed for trial against Philip Morris Cos. in a case that could determine whether new rules of evidence in California tobacco cases can help cigarette makers halt a string of disastrous courtroom losses.— ID# 5798—

Editorial — August 19, 2002 — The Los Angeles Times— Los Angeles, California— Here's a Pitch: Blow the Cigarette Smoke Back kin Hollywood's Face—"My hands are bloody; so are Hollywood's," declares Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas in a recent commentary piece in which he also acknowledges he has throat cancer. "My cancer has caused me to attempt to cleanse mine," he adds. In the piece, in the New York Times, the multimillionaire screenwriter literally begs his Hollywood colleagues to stop using alluring images of cigarettes, which, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kill 440,000 Americans annually. The CDC also says that every day almost 5,000 under the age of 18 try their first cigarette.— ID# 5797—

Editorial — August 16, 2002 — The Los Angeles Times— Los Angeles, California— Sex, Muscle and Smokes—What are the tobacco barons to do? Cancer and heart disease are killing off their best customers, every year more people are giving up cigarettes or, wisely, choosing not to start, and steady tax hikes are making a pack of smokes more expensive for those still puffing away. The folks who make cigarettes are getting desperate to hang on to the dwindling number of customers.— ID# 5790—

August 15, 2002 — The New York Times— New York, New York— Bum a Smoke? At This Price?—Valerie Lee was smoking down her drinks at the Bowery Bar. For each dry vodka martini, there was another Virginia Slim. But she said she was going to have to change her pace. "I will probably go to one smoke for every other drink," she said. "I just can't do $7.50 a pack." As Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who quit smoking almost 20 years ago, moves to ban smoking in all restaurants and bars, city smokers and nonsmokers are seeing their environment change, and it is not just in the air quality.— ID# 5788

August 15, 2002 — Reuters Health— Smoking just a few cigarettes ups heart attack risk—Smokers who think they will cheat death by puffing away on fewer cigarettes or not inhaling the noxious smoke better think again. New research from Denmark suggests that women who smoke as few as 3 to 5 cigarettes a day may double their risk for a heart attack. And men may suffer the same fate smoking 6 to 9 cigarettes a day, according to the report published in the August issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.— ID# 5787—(go to article)

August 15, 2002 — The Los Angeles Times— Los Angeles, California— Warning: Smokers Risk Exposure to Unfair Taxation—Every morning at Lake Tahoe I'd drive to a 7-Eleven. I'd go in a Ford, but usually have two things in common with people arriving in more fancy cars, like a Navigator SUV or BMW convertible. We'd buy newspapers. And we did not smoke. There also was another group of regulars, largely Latino, usually arriving on foot in old shoes. They'd buy a California lottery ticket and a pack of cigarettes, lighting up immediately after stepping outside.— ID# 5786—

August 15, 2002 — The Los Angeles Times— Los Angeles, California— ID Scanners Used at Bars, Stores—Every weekend, thirsty patrons crowd into the cramped brick foyer of Brian Boru's, a smoky downtown pub, and wait for the doorman to swipe their driver's licenses through a small electronic device. The pub is one of a small but growing number of nightclubs, convenience stores and beer distributors that have begun using scanners to check patrons' ages and keep alcohol, tobacco and fake IDs out of minors' hands.— ID#5785

August 12, 2002 — Yahoo News—The NBA drops tobacco firm as a sponsor— The NBA’s announcement that it has dropped Lorillard Tobacco Company as a sponsor of its Hoop-It-Up tournament is a slam-dunk for the health of America’s kids. We’re absolutely delighted.— ID# 5772

August 13, 2002 — The Chicago Tribune— Chicago, Illinois—A burning question: Smoking-prevention ads try to be hip, but do they work?— Back when your parents and grandparents were young, people weren't as certain about the connection between smoking and your health as they are now. Today, even some cigarette makers are making an effort to convince kids that smoking is unhealthy.— ID# 5769—

August 9, 2002 — Reuters Health—Basic Instinct' writer regrets smoke-laden scripts— Hollywood bad-boy screenwriter Joe Eszterhas admits he knowingly portrayed smoking as a hip, sexy habit in hits such as "Flashdance" and "Basic Instinct." But now, stricken with throat cancer and writing in the Op-Ed page of Friday's New York Times, Eszterhas calls that glamorization of smoking "unconscionable," adding that he now wishes "to do everything I can to undo the damage I have done with my own big-screen words and images."— ID# 5768

August 8, 2002 — Reuters Health—Teen try to lose weight by smoking, diet pills— More US high school students are trying to lose weight than need to, and many are adopting unhealthy practices to reach their goals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Based on surveys of more than 15,000 high school students, Dr. Richard Lowry and his colleagues discovered that students who may not be overweight or in danger of becoming so are nonetheless trying to shed pounds.— ID# 5765—

August 10, 2002 — The Los Angeles Times— Los Angeles, California—NYC Mayor Seeks Full Restaurant Smoker Ban— The city said Friday that it will try to ban smoking in all bars and restaurants by focusing on the potential health threat to hospitality workers. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will ask the City Council next week to outlaw smoking in the roughly 13,000 establishments not covered by the current law, which permits smoking in bars and in restaurants with fewer than 35 seats.— ID# 5763—

August 9, 2002 — The New York Times— New York, New York—NYC Mayor to Propose Smoking Ban— The mayor has been lobbying council members to approve the expected bill. He is expected to seek more support by focusing on how bar and restaurant workers are harmed by secondhand smoke.— ID# 5758—

August 9, 2002 — The New York Times— New York, New York— Hollywood's Responsibility for Smoking Deaths— I've written 14 movies. My characters smoke in many of them, and they look cool and glamorous doing it. Smoking was an integral part of many of my screenplays because I was a militant smoker. It was part of a bad-boy image I'd cultivated for a long time — smoking, drinking, partying, rock 'n' roll.— ID# 5757

August 9, 2002 — The San Diego Union Tribune— San Diego California — $100 million OK'd to offer kids free preschool in L.A. — A commission voted yesterday to provide $100 million in tobacco tax money to make free preschooling available to every 3-and 4-year-old child in Los Angeles County. The nine-member county panel that has final say on distributing the county's share of the tax money voted unanimously to create what may be the first and certainly the largest program of its kind in the nation.— ID# 5759

August 7, 2002 — Fox News— Cigarette Tax Plans May Go Up in Smoke— If you're a smoker in New York City, there's a good chance you don't buy your cigarettes at delis or newsstands. On average, a pack of smokes is now $7.50. The steep price tag is thanks to a new city-imposed tax that in its first month forced cigarette sales down 50 percent -- and tax revenues up 1,000 percent. It sounds like a healthy fiscal plan, but critics warn that politicians, not just in New York but nationwide, are heading down a dangerous path. Again.— ID# 5748

August 7, 2002 — The Washington Post— Washington, D.C.— Townsend Endorses Higher Tax on Tobacco— Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has vowed to raise no new taxes during her first year in the Maryland governor's mansion, if elected. But Townsend said yesterday she would seek a tax increase during her second year 36 cents per pack more for the state tax on cigarettes. The increase would bring the total sate tobacco tax to $1.36 per pack, the fifth highest in the nation.— ID# 5745

August 7, 2002 — The New York Times— New York, New York— Campaign Promotes Smoke-Free Environments— STANTON A. GLANTZ wants to tell restaurants and bars to go smoke-free — but he is having trouble getting the word out. Prof. Glantz, a tobacco researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, yesterday announced a new Web site, "TobaccoScam," to counter what he calls a 20-year campaign by the tobacco industry to use the restaurant industry as a stalking horse to defeat anti-smoking rules.— ID# 5744—

August 7, 2002 — The Sacramento Bee—Sacramento, California— If you smoke, you'll fume— California would increase cigarette taxes to $3 per pack -- highest in the nation -- under a proposal Tuesday that Assembly Democrats hailed as part of their "end game" to solve the state's budget stalemate. By switching more of the state's financial burden to smokers, the new budget proposal would eliminate a proposed doubling of California's vehicle licensing fee.— ID# 5741

August 6, 2002 — The Los Angeles Times— Los Angeles, California— Smokers May Sue for Fraud, Justices Rule— Diseased smokers in California may sue tobacco companies for fraud and negligence, relying on evidence of misconduct for all but a 10-year period when cigarette makers were protected from lawsuits, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday. The court's action paves the way for many new lawsuits against the industry and potential multimillion-dollar awards for victims. Evidence that the industry may have altered tobacco with additives to make it more addictive will be admissible regardless of the industry's past protection from lawsuits.— ID# 5739—

August 6, 2002 — The New York Times— New York, New York—Cigarette Tax, Highest in Nation, Cuts Sales in City— The number of cigarettes sold in New York City has been cut almost in half since the city began charging the highest cigarette tax in the nation last month, driving the price of many cigarettes to $7.50 a pack, according to figures released yesterday. Only 15,630,000 packs of cigarettes were sold in the city during July, the first month of the tax, which represents a 47 percent drop from the 29,220,000 packs sold last July, according to Sam Miller, a spokesman for the city's Department of Finance.— ID# 5736

August 1, 2002 — Yahoo News— At UN, Nations Seek to Fight Tobacco Smuggling— Many of the 145 countries attending a global conference on cigarette smuggling like the idea of devoting part of their tobacco tax revenues to fighting trafficking, a World Health Organization ( news - web sites) official said on Thursday.— ID# 5730

July 31, 2002 — The Los Angeles Times— Los Angeles, California— Companies seen as Aiding illegal Tobacco Business— Illegal sales and smuggling of a powerfully addictive narcotic earn billions for criminal syndicates, corrupt police and customs agencies, and claim thousands of lives every year.— ID# 5725—

July 31, 2002 — The Sacramento Bee— Sacramento, California— City approves smoking rule— Smoking no longer will be allowed within 20 feet of entrances to city government buildings, beginning in one month, the council decided Tuesday.— ID# 5718—

July 27, 2002 — The Los Angeles Times— Los Angeles, California— Threat to Cigarette Control—If a bill just shy of enough support for passage in the state Legislature becomes law, the folks who peddle cigarettes to kids from the back of an ice cream truck could get a lucky break. AB 1666 probably would preempt the efforts of cities like Los Angeles to crack down on merchants who illegally sell cigarettes to kids and instead put all the authority to regulate underage tobacco sales into the hands of the state. On its face that doesn't sound so sinister.— ID# 5705—

July 28, 2002 — The Washington Post— Washington, D.C.— Tax This Sacred Cow— The debate about a sales tax increase in Northern Virginia obscures the neglect of a lucrative revenue source tobacco. Although last week Gov. Mark Warner broached the possibility of a "sin" tax to include cigarettes, he will have to overcome plantation politics rooted in the 19th century -- politics that has resulted in Virginia's having the lowest tobacco tax of any state.— ID# 5702

July 25, 2002 — Reuters Health— Smoke-free workplaces spur smokers to kick habit— Banning smoking in the workplace not only gives workers healthier air, it appears to encourage smokers to either cut down or kick their habit, a review of previous studies suggests. "Totally smoke-free workplaces are associated with reductions in prevalence of smoking of 3.8%, and 3.1 fewer cigarettes smoked per day per continuing smoker," according to the report in the July 27th issue of the British Medical Journal.— ID# 5696

July 25, 2002 — Yahoo News— CDC: 7 in 10 Smokers Want to Quit— Seven in 10 adult smokers in the United States say they want to quit -- but their success in kicking the habit varies widely by race and education, the government said Thursday. A study of more than 32,000 adults in 2000 found that about 23.3 percent were current smokers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That was down slightly from 25 percent in 1993.— ID# 5695

July 24, 2002 — The Chicago Tribune—Chicago, Illinois — Anti-smoking ad shows dying man— A new anti-smoking campaign in France hopes to shock smokers into kicking the habit with real-life images of a man in the throes of his losing battle with cancer.The health warning, which was broadcast on French television for the first time Monday, depicts an emaciated 49-year-old, Richard Gourlain, sitting on his bed five days before his death in 1999— ID# 5685—

July 23, 2002 — Reuters Health —Study says state cigarette taxes deter smoking — Tax hikes on cigarettes imposed recently by states and cities across the United States are not only filling coffers but are also proving to be a strong deterrent to smoking, an anti-tobacco group said on Monday. "In several states, consumption declined 20% or more and new revenues in the millions of dollars were still realized,'' the Smokeless States National Tobacco Policy Initiative said in a study to be presented at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting in Denver.— ID# 5684

July 21, 2002 — The New York Times— New York, New York — Beating the Tax Increase, One Cigarette at a Time — S hana, a 14-year-old who lives in the Alphabet City housing projects, did not flinch when local cigarette prices jumped to $7.50 a pack this month. Her nicotine fix would cost only an extra nickel. "I stick with loosies," she said after buying two menthols for a buck from a hole-in-the-wall bodega on Avenue D. "I can't afford to buy a whole pack."— ID# 5677

July 22, 2002 — The New York Times— New York, New York — Draft of W.H.O. Treaty Would Ban Cigarette Ads — Negotiators have drawn up a draft of an international treaty that would phase in bans on cigarette advertising and sports sponsorships by tobacco companies as part of the World Health Organization's campaign to curb smoking worldwide.— ID# 5676

July 22, 2002 — ABC News — Smokescreen? Where Tobacco Settlement Funds Really Went — When the tobacco companies agreed to pay a $200 billion settlement to states for medical costs due to smoking, and to help prevent kids from starting, it was a legal victory against "Big Tobacco." "We need to finish this job and move on with saving children's lives," Christine Gregoire, the Washington State Attorney General, said after the settlement was announced three years ago. "This is not about the money … We are getting this industry off the backs of our kids."— ID# 5673

July 22, 2002 — The New York Times— New York, New York — A Drive to Regulate Tobacco Ads — S ENATOR Edward M. Kennedy, a longtime proponent of tobacco regulation, is spearheading legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration oversight of the tobacco industry, including the marketing of cigarettes.— ID#5669

July 20, 2002 — The San Diego Union Tribune— San Diego California —Supervisors to vote on Tobacco law — County supervisors are scheduled to vote on a law aimed at preventing tobacco products from getting into the hands of young people. The board is to vote Tuesday on an ordinance banning the sale of individual cigarettes; banning the free distribution of tobacco samples or promotional items at street fairs and public events; and preventing businesses from having smoking products in open display cases, except in bars and places where minors are not permitted.— ID# 5674

July 19, 2002 — Advertising Age — Philip Morris Readies $350 Million Cigarette Push — Philip Morris Cos. will invest $350 million to promote and market its premium cigarette brands at retail, the company announced today. Philip Morris plans to increase promotionalspending -- discounts given to retailers and consumers -- on its four focus brands, Marlboro, Parliament, Virginia Slims and Basic in an effort to continue to improve their share performance.— ID# 5665

July 18, 2002 — The Chicago Tribune— Chicago, Illinois — Survey: Teen Drug, Alcohol Use Down — Grown-ups who tell kids not to smoke, drink or take drugs are getting their message across. A new survey shows that drug, alcohol and cigarette use among sixth- to 12th-graders is at the lowest level in years, partly because adults are doing more to keep them away from illicit substances. Parents and teachers are warning students about drug use and encouraging kids to nurture other interests by joining extracurricular school and religious activities, according to the 2001-02 Pride Survey, released Wednesday.— ID# 5658

July 17, 2002 — Reuters