Important Health Precautions In Case Of Flooding

WHEELING -- As the water level continues to rise, so do concerns of area residents.

The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department has released a number of tips to keep homes and families safe in the event of flooding.

Flood water is known to carry disease producing bacteria that can remain alive and dangerous for long periods of time on items covered or exposed to flooding.

The Health Departments wants to remind everyone to keep their hands away from their mouth and face if they do come in contact with flood waters. Also be sure to disinfect wounds and dress them immediately.

When dealing with flood cleanup, wear protective clothing, including rubber boots, gloves and eye protection.

It is also important to wash your hands with soap and hot water to disinfect them.

After the flood waters have receded and before beginning any kind of clean-up, make sure gas and electricity is turned off to your home.

Before entering any building that has been flooded, check the foundation for cracks or shifting.

Drain or pump water out of flooded basements, but be sure not to pump too soon after waters have receded as this could cause the collapse of basement walls.

Finally, hose down all floors, walls and ceilings with clean water, preferably before they dry.

Caring for Our Recovery

First, the good news, the risk of relapse declines with the passage of time! While
roughly 95% of uneducated smokers who attempt to stop smoking relapse within a year,
the relapse rate declines to just 2 to 4% per year from years 2 to 10, and then falls to less
than 1% after 10 years.392 Keep in mind that these rates occurred among ex-users who
generally had little understanding of nicotine dependency and no formal respect for the
Law of Addiction. If compliant with the Law our risk of failure remains zero.
But just one powerful hit of nicotine and the addict is back! While ignorance of the Law
is no excuse, most ex-users do not remain ex-users because of understanding or respect
for “one puff” relapse rates seen in recovery studies. They do so because once home they
discover that life without nicotine is better than when using it.
While the relapse rate for years 2 though 10 may seem small, when added together the
risk becomes significant. One recent study suggests that as many as 17% who succeed
for 1 year may eventually relapse.393 These ex-users do not relapse because they dislike
being home. They do so because they lose sight of how they got there, who they are, and
the captivity they left behind.
Among educated ex-users there appear to be three primary factors associated with
relapse:
(1) a natural suppression of memories of recovery’s early challenges,
(2) the exuser
tries to rewrite or amend the Law and
(3) the ex-user thinks he/she has found a
legitimate excuse to break or ignore it. When these factors combine with an offer of a
cigar, alcohol use around those still using394 or occur in an impulsive-type person,395 the
risk of relapse is magnified.

Philip Morris presents at JP Morgan Global Tobacco Conference

NEW YORK - Philip Morris International Inc.’s (NYSE / Paris Euronext: PM) Chief Operating Officer André Calantzopoulos will address investors today at the JP Morgan Global Tobacco Conference at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London.
The presentation and Q&A session are being webcast live, in a listen-only mode, beginning at approximately 9:25 a.m. London Time. An archived copy of the webcast, together with selected slides, will be available on the same site until 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, July 18, 2008.
Highlights of the presentation include Philip Morris International’s (PMI) key brand strategies and an update on major market performances.
The presentation may contain projections of future results and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
PMI is subject to other risks detailed from time to time in its publicly filed documents, including the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2008. PMI cautions that the list of important factors is not complete and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that it may make.

Uganda: Tobacco Firms Should Be Socially Responsible

I wish to draw attention to the damage tobacco growing has caused to the environment in West Nile, the North, Bunyoro and south-western Uganda.
Several acres of woodland have been felled for flue-cured tobacco production in Maracha, Arua, Koboko, Yumbe, Hoima, and Masindi districts. Forests that would otherwise have filtered carbon emissions and protected arable land from erosion are removed, and temperatures in the tobacco-growing districts are rising.
Firms like British American Tobacco, Leaf Tobacco and Commodity, as well as Continental, in their fallacy, give eucalyptus seedlings to farmers supposedly to replace chopped forests without considering the long maturity period and its impact on the water table.
The tobacco firms do not plough back their high profits yet they hype their cosmetic social responsibility programmes. South African Breweries' "Drive Arrive Campaign" resulted into 10% decline in road accident-related deaths in 1998. What have the tobacco companies done?
Apart from the trivial contribution through the mandatory 2000 Crop Ordinance that Arua enacted, tobacco companies have not done much for the community. Since tobacco growing is laborious and an all-year round activity, many food crops are foregone by tobacco farmers, which has caused food insecurity.
Besides, during peak seasons, students stay home harvesting tobacco, leading to poor academic performance and child labour. Tobacco companies have not trained farmers to invest their little earnings and this leaves them in a cyclical poverty trap.
The negative impact of tobacco growing includes the accumulation of chemical compounds in soils and declining fertility. Tobacco production negatively affects people's health. The effects include nicotine poisoning, pesticide exposure, respiratory effects, musculoskeletal and other injuries.
The Government should assist tobacco growers in West Nile to produce alternative crops that thrive well there without fertilisers or pesticides. The sh48b the Government gets in tax revenues from tobacco exports and products should not shroud the negative effects on tobacco on the population.

‘Joint effort needed’ to strengthen tobacco law

A TOTAL of 52 participants including mall managers, restaurant and hotel managers, health professionals, legal experts, law enforcement agents and government officials recently attended a National Health Authority’s (NHA) workshop on Tobacco Law number 20 of 2002.
Penalties for violating the law include fines of up to QR5,000, closure of establishment which violates the law and jail of up to six months.
The aim of the workshop, which is one of the activities lined up for the commemoration of the ‘World No Tobacco Day’ was to discuss how to improve the implementation of the law among other things.
The theme for the year is ‘Tobacco-Free Youth’.
The director of the Public health at the NHA, Dr Gail Fraser Chanpong, who declared open the workshop, said that tobacco is a major public health problem in the community and that urgent cigarettes control efforts are needed.
Prof Ravinder Mamtani of the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar discussed the effects of tobacco and highlighted its effects, including cancer and heart diseases.
“Globally, tobacco kills approximately 5.4mn people annually, that is, one person every six seconds,” he said.
Legal expert at the NHA Asmaa Abdel Halim highlighted parts of the law and also discussed how it organises and controls tobacco sale and smoking in public places.
She stressed the importance of collaboration between all governmental agencies, families, educational institutions and others to reach the goals set by the country.
Head of the Non-communicable Diseases section Adenike Ajani said legislation is one of many strategies that can be used for tobacco control, especially because of its special consideration for the youths.
She added that the law prohibits the sale of tobacco to minors and advertisement that may encourage its use among youths.
Ajani noted that tobacco in the law refers to all kinds of products including water-pipe (sheesha) and chewing tobacco (suwaikah), while adding that there is no safe form of tobacco.
Major Hamad al-Ansari of the Ministry of Interior said that law enforcement officials will continue to support the cigarettes control efforts of the NHA, adding that official channels of collaboration need to be established to strengthen the role of the police officers in the tobacco control.

New Camel brand contains crushable capsule

Consumers can squeeze this blue capsule inside the filter of the new Camel Crush to release a menthol flavor. The brand is being test-marketed at local Quality Mart stores.

A tiny blue capsule is the key element in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s latest attempt to woo smokers.
The capsule is embedded into the filter of a regular Camel Lights cigarette.
When smokers squeeze and snap the capsule, it releases menthol to change the flavor. The cigarettes — packaged in a sleek black and blue box and called Camel Crush — is being test-marketed at local Quality Mart convenience stores, and beginning this month in Pennsylvania.
"We're giving the adult smoker the ability to savor two distinct flavors with Camel Crush and customize the experience," said Brian Stebbins, the senior business-unit director for Camel. "They can crush it a little and get a slight flavor over the length of the smoke. They can crush it completely and get a fresh menthol blast."
Reynolds views product innovation as a positive and differentiating way to compete for adult smokers and market share.
However, the capsule also has become the latest target of anti-smoking groups, which claim that product innovations such as Camel Crush and the marketing of cigarettesare geared toward attracting young consumers.
"Tobacco companies have carefully designed their products to attract new users, almost all of whom are children," said The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in a February report titled "Big Tobacco's Guinea Pigs."
"Tobacco products are far from simple tobacco leaf rolled in paper or other packaging. They are highly engineered nicotine-delivery devices, finely tuned to appeal to the taste, feel, smell, and other sensations of new and addicted smokers," the report says.
Stebbins declined to say how much Reynolds has spent to develop Camel Crush, but it has been in the works for several years.
"We had to find the proper type of capsule," Stebbins said. "We also had to invent manufacturing machinery to put the capsule in the same place in the filter consistently without breaking it." Reynolds said it has obtained a patent on the machinery.

Fire-safe cigarettes bill passes Senate

A bill sponsored by Sen. Rosalind Kurita of Clarksville to require "fire-safe" cigarettes in Tennessee passed the state Senate today and is on its way to Gov. Bredesen for his signature.

The fire-safe cigarettes bill passed in the house by an overwhelming majority on April 10 and was approved in the Senate this morning.

Fire-safe cigarettes are made from a special paper that contains "speed bumps" — areas of increased thickness that extinguish the cigarettes when air is not pulled through them, according to a news release today from the Senate Democratic Caucus. Unattended cigarettes burn out when the flame hits the speed bumps.

The new law will require that only these cigarettes be sold in Tennessee.

Tobacco market practices

LONDON - Britain's consumer affairs watchdog said on Friday it suspected cigarettes price-fixing involving tobacco companies and retailers, including all big four supermarket chains, between 2000 and 2003.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) issued a so-called statement of objections naming two tobacco manufacturers -- Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco-owned Gallaher -- and 11 retailers.
The retailers are Wal-Mart-owned Asda, Co-operative Group, First Quench, Morrisons, Safeway, Sainsbury, Shell, Somerfield, T&S Stores, Tesco and TM Retail.
Imperial Tobacco had no immediate comment. Gallaher, which is owned by Japan Tobacco, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The OFT made two allegations, including that there were arrangements between "each manufacturer and each retailer that restricted the ability of each of these cigarettes retailers to determine its selling prices independently, by linking the retail price of a manufacturer's brand to the retail price of a competing brand of another manufacturer".
The second was more specific, alleging "in the case of Gallaher, Imperial Tobacco, Asda, Sainsbury, Shell, Somerfield and Tesco, the indirect exchange of proposed future retail prices between competitors".
The allegations come two days after the OFT was forced to apologise to supermarket Morrisons and pay 100,000 pounds ($197,700) to settle a defamation action over an incorrect accusation in another antitrust probe.

S.Korea's Tobacco Giant Opens First Overseas Plant In Turkey

South Korea`s top tobacco company Korean Tobacco & Ginseng (KT&G) has opened on Thursday a factory in Turkey which is the first overseas plant of the company.
KT&G plans to produce two cigarettes brands at its plant in Aegean province of Izmir, company`s chief executive Kwak Young Kyoon said at the opening ceremony.
The plant, which has the capacity to produce 2 billion cigarettes a year, will ship 60 percent of its production to central European and Middle Eastern countries, mainly to Iran, Bulgaria, Hungary and Spain.
Kyoon said his company spent nearly 50 million USD for the plant, adding that KT&G targets 3 percent of market share in its first year in Turkey, and aims at 5 percent market share in the next three year.
KT&G is the largest tobacco company of South Korea and sells 100 billion cigarettes a year to almost 40 countries. The company is also active in ginseng, pharmaceutical and real estate sectors.

Japan Tobacco to shut its 9th-biggest cigarette plant in Japan

TOKYO - Japan Tobacco Inc., the country's largest cigarettesmaker, has decided to close down its cigarette plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, the ninth-biggest of its 10 cigarette factories, as a response to falling domestic demand, the company said Thursday.

Japan Tobacco has been expanding its cigarettes sales outside Japan, as well as its other business operations such as food and pharmaceuticals, to compensate for shrinking business opportunities in Japan, where the population is aging and an anti-smoking campaign is gaining ground.

The 35-year-old plant in Ishikawa produced 7.4 billion cigarette sticks in the year ended March 2007.
Japan Tobacco did not provide a figure for the total volume of its cigarette production nationwide.

The company sold a total of 174.9 billion cigarettes in Japan in the year to March 2007, down 6.4 percent from a year earlier.

Japan Tobacco has yet to assess the financial impact of the planned factory closure, it said.

Legislation to give FDA authority over tobacco

Legislation to grant the Federal Drug Administration authority over cigarettes product regulation has moved to the U.S. House of Representatives. The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the bill, which has bipartisan support.

According to a Wednesday article by the Media General News Service, the legislation would give the FDA control over nicotine levels, cigarette marketing and health-warning labels, proposals that have been in Congress for more than a decade.

The bill would reinstate the FDA's 1996 rule that restricted cigarettes marketing and sales to youth. According to a release by the Energy and Commerce Committee, the legislation would give the FDA the authority and resources to control regulation of tobacco products.

"The legislation provides FDA with resources necessary to fulfill its new responsibilities by requiring manufacturers and importers of tobacco to pay user fees to fund FDA's new regulatory responsibilities under the bill," according to the release.

According to the committee's Web site, the bill has more than 600 organizations supporting it.

Ryan Willcott, president of College Republicans, said there are parts of the legislation he likes, like the push to lower the levels of nicotine to help with addiction. He also said he likes that the government would be able to rid any appeals that cigarettes have to children, and he agrees with increasing the size of the surgeon general's warning on packaging.

Fire-Safe Cigarettes Now Sold In Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. - All cigarettes now sold in Kentucky must be "fire safe," according to a law that went into effect April 1.
The law, passed a year ago by the 2007 General Assembly, is expected to save lives and property by reducing fires caused by careless smoking, said Richard Moloney, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Housing, Building and Construction, the agency that includes the State Fire Marshal's staff.
"We're confident that this legislation will pay immediate dividends," Moloney said. "Unfortunately, Kentucky ranks ninth in the nation in fire-related deaths. We believe this law will reduce the number of such deaths."
A fire-safe cigarettes is less likely to burn when left unattended. Typically, the cigarette has several bands of thicker paper that act as "speed bumps" to slow down the burning of the cigarette. If the cigarette is not puffed, it will extinguish itself when it burns down to one of the bands.
Kentucky is now one of 24 states that mandates fire-safe cigarettes, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
The State Fire Marshal is certifying fire-safe brands sold in Kentucky. A pack containing fire-safe cigarettes can be identified with the letters "FSC" or "FC," signifying fire standards compliance.
While there are penalties for failing to comply, Moloney said many cigarette manufacturers have already submitted their brands for certification. It may take a while before current inventory leaves store shelves and the fire-safe cigarettes appear.
Smokers should not rely solely on fire-safe cigarettes to avert a fire, Moloney said.
"First and foremost, a smoker should always properly extinguish his or her cigarette," he said. "A moment of carelessness can lead to tragedy."

Why people smoke cigarettes?

What is the nature of this psychological pleasure? It can be traced to the universal desire for self-expression. None of us ever completely outgrows his childhood. We are constantly hunting for the carefree enjoyment we knew as children. As we grew older, we had to subordinate our pleasures to work and to the necessity for unceasing effort. Smoking, for many of us, then, became a substitute for our early habit of following the whims of the moment; it becomes a legitimate excuse for interrupting work and snatching a moment of pleasure. "You sometimes get tired of working intensely," said an accountant whom we interviewed, "and if you sit back for the length of a cigarette, you feel much fresher afterwards. It's a peculiar thing, but I wouldn't think of just sitting back without cigarettes. I guess a cigarette somehow gives me a good excuse."
Most of us are hungry for rewards. We want to be patted on the back. A cigarette is a reward that we can give ourselves as often as we wish. When we have done anything well, for instance, we can congratulate ourselves with a cigarette, which certifies, in effect, that we have been "good boys." We can promise ourselves: "When I have finished this piece of work, when I have written the last page of my report, I'll deserve a little fun. I'll have a cigarette."
As we have said, to explain the pleasure derived from smoking as taste experience alone, is not sufficient. For one thing, such an explanation leaves out the powerful erotic sensitivity of the oral zone. Oral pleasure is just as fundamental as sexuality and hunger. It functions with full strength from earliest childhood.
A cigarettes not only measures time, but also seems to make time pass more rapidly. That is why waiting periods almost autuomatically stimulate the desire to smoke. But a deeper explanation of this function of smoking is based on the fact that smoking is ersatz activity. Impatience is a common feature of our times, but there are many situations which compel us to be patient. When we are in a hurry, and yet have to wait, a cigarette gives us something to do during that trying interval. The experience of wanting to act, but being unable to do so, is very unpleasant and may even, in extreme cases, cause attacks of nervous anxiety. Cigarettes may then have a psychotherapeutic effect. This helps to explain why soldiers, waiting for the signal to attack, sometimes value a cigarette more than food.
The companionable character of cigarettes is also reflected in the fact that they help us make friends. In many ways, smoking has the same effect drinking has. It helps to break down social barriers.
The mind can concentrate best when all outside stimuli have been excluded. Smoking literally provides a sort of "smoke screen" that helps to shut out distractions. This explains why many people who were interviewed reported that they cannot think or write without a cigarette. They argued that moderate smoking may even stimulate mental alertness. It gives us a focal point for our attention. It also gives our hands something to do; otherwise they might make us self-conscious and interfere with mental activity. On the other hand, our respondents admit that smoking too much may reduce their efficiency.
One shortcoming of our modern culture is the universal lack of adequate relaxation. Many of us not only do not know how to relax, but do not take time to learn. cigarettes helps us to relax because, like music, it is rhythmic. Smoking gives us a legitimate excuse to linger a little longer after meals, to stop work for a few minutes, to sit at home without doing anything that requires effort.
Smoking brings relief. Worry, anxiety, depress us not only psychologically but also physiologically. When a person feels depressed, the rhythm of his breathing becomes upset. A short and shallow breath creates a heavy feeling in the chest. Smoking may relieve mental depression by forcing a rhythmic expansion of the breast and thus restoring the normal pace of breathing. The "weight on the chest" is removed.
This connection between smoking and respiration accounts for the common expression, smoking makes us breath more steadily, and thus calms us down.

Pay cuts for Japan Tobacco chiefs over tainted dumplings

TOKYO— Japan Tobacco said Friday its entire board of directors will take pay cuts after the company became embroiled in a scandal over poisoned dumplings imported from China.
JT president Hiroshi Kimura and four other JT executives will take a cut of 30 percent for three months, while others will see their salaries reduced by 10 percent over the food scare which erupted in January, a company statement said.
Japanese authorities have confirmed that 10 people suffered pesticide poisoning after eating tainted dumplings that a JT subsidiary imported from China.
Thousands more people complained of illness although the exact circumstances of how the cigarettes products were contaminated has not yet been established.
"We take this incident seriously and have decided at a board meeting today to penalise relevant members," JT said in a statement.
The poisoning scare has alarmed cigarettes consumers in Japan, which relies on imports for 60 percent of its food, with China the top provider after the United States.

Big Tobacco Faces Further Cigarette Market Declines In The U.S.

NEW YORK -The future of Big Tobacco in the U.S. is looking hazy.
Tobacco companies have been steadily selling fewer cigarettes in the U.S., but that rate of decline is likely to accelerate over the next few years. Those declines will mean the biggest cigarette companies could be in for a much tougher fight for their survival and growth in the U.S.
Altria Group Inc. (MO) - which at the end of this week will spin off its Philip Morris International business and transform itself into a domestic tobacco company - expects unit volumes of the overall U.S. cigarettes industry to decline by 2.5% to 3% a year for the next few years. That decline is steeper than the historical rate of about 2%. Altria estimates industry volumes, or the number of cigarettes sold, fell about 4% in 2007.
"We have highlighted accelerated volume declines as one of the bigger risks the industry faces," said Janice Hofferber, a vice president at Moody's Investors Service who follows tobacco and consumer products. Historically, tobacco companies have been able to raise prices fairly easily, but "there is a limit to the pricing flexibility these companies have."
The weaker volumes will mean that cigarette companies will need to focus more on cost cuts, and to dabble in new kinds of tobacco products. One thing, however, is unlikely to change: Altria is likely to continue to have the upperhand in U.S. tobacco market for some years due to the power of its Malboro brand.
In general, volumes have declined as cigarettes sellers have been pushed to boost prices to offset higher federal and state taxes and to make annual payments under a 1998 settlement agreement with states. Bans on smoking in public places and more health-conscious consumers have also contributed to the cigarette volume declines.
The U.S. tobacco companies have been trying to grow in the smaller, growing market for smokeless tobacco products. Altria - or the Big MO as the company is often called for its trading symbol - has a relatively small presence so far in smokeless tobacco. But its Marlboro brand still has 41% share of the retail market, larger than the combined share of the next 10 largest cigarette brands. Marlboro also continues to gain market share. Last year, Altria's U.S. tobacco segment saw revenue net of excise taxes rise 1.2% to $15 billion.
"I think Altria is better positioned to withstand price increases because of their brand position," said Hofferber.
Lorillard is in the next best position after Altria, she said, due to its dominance in menthol cigarettes. At the end of last year, Loews Corp. (LTR) announced plans to spin off Lorillard, its tobacco unit. Lorillard's Newport cigarettes are the top selling brand in the menthol market.
Rival Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) made an astute and quick move through its acquisition of smokeless tobacco maker Conwood in 2006 but Conwood by itself isn't sufficient to offset the challenges of weaker cigarette demand. The smokeless tobacco market is still far smaller than the market for cigarettes. A spokesman for Reynolds, which sells brands like Camel and Kool, said the company is making concerted efforts to get adult smokers to switch to its brands by introducing product and packaging innovation.
Cigarettes accounted for more than 90% of expenditures on all tobacco products in the U.S. in 2006, according data compiled by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Total spending on tobacco was $88.8 billion in 2005, of which $ 82 billion was spent on cigarettes, according to the agency.
Altria, Reynolds American, and the soon-to-be-independent Lorillard will not be able to rely on international growth to offset U.S. declines. Altria will be a U.S. tobacco company after the March 28 spinoff of Philip Morris International. Reynolds does business mainly in the U.S., while Lorillard sold the international rights to substantially all of its brands, including Newport, in 1977.
That said, some investors are still hoping to see steady returns from U.S. tobacco businesses.
"There is still a lot to like," about cigarette stocks, said Charles Norton, portfolio manager of the $183 million Vice Fund, which owns tobacco industry shares. "The story for the U.S. cigarette makers is not one of volume growth."
Norton likes these companies' strong pricing power, emphasis on cost reduction, their expansion into alternative tobacco products, their willingness to distribute cash to shareholders through dividends or buybacks, and an improved legal environment. In the last couple years, cigarette companies have had several important legal victories in tobacco lawsuits in the U.S.
"Tobacco in general offers earnings stability and dividend security that are vital in uncertain times like we are experiencing right now," Norton said. Norton's fund holds shares of Altria and Carolina Group (CG), currently the tracking stock for Lorillard. He has short positions in smokeless tobacco company UST Inc. (UST) and Reynolds American.
So far, no one is predicting the death of the U.S cigarette industry. Standard & Poor's tobacco debt analyst Ken Shea said, "You are going to have a universe of consumers" for cigarettes.

Oregon's cigarette tax

Gov. Ted Kulongoski plans to announce a renewed push to increase Oregon's cigarettes tax to pay for expanded children's health care when he delivers his state-of-the-state address today in Portland.
Details are being worked out, but the Democratic governor is expected to announce he is resurrecting an idea that was left for dead after Oregon voters trounced Measure 50, which would have increased the state tax on a pack of cigarettes by 84.5 cents.
"The failure of Measure 50 last November was a setback, but I refuse to treat it as a defeat. Kids can't wait," Kulongoski said Thursday.
The cigarette-tax increase is one of the key elements of Kulongoski's annual address in which he also will outline plans to seek more revenue to upgrade Oregon's transportation system, possibly with gas- tax increases or higher state vehicle- registration fees.
Additionally, Kulongoski said he will push to increase the corporate minimum tax — set at $10 in 1931 and unchanged since — and dedicate the money to Oregon's rainy-day fund to shield schools, health-care providers and other services from getting hammered in the next economic downturn.
Kulongoski's chief of staff, Chip Terhune, acknowledged that the shaky economy could make those revenue increases a tough sell with lawmakers.
"This is ambitious," Terhune said. "He is reaching hard for this one. But frankly, the governor continues to believe that making sure that children have health insurance is critical and that transportation infrastructure is in dire need of reinvestment."
Kulongoski also will outline further plans to combat global warming, which could include offering new incentives to encourage use of all-electric cars. He also will push for reallocating existing state revenue to provide increases in funding for K-12 and for higher education, as well as for Head Start preschool programs.
Terhune said Kulongoski's proposals amount to a "road map" for the coming election year in which he will try to drum up support for those ideas before forwarding them to the 2009 Legislature for consideration.
The cigarette-tax increase will reprise a long political battle in 2007, which ended with voters soundly defeating the proposal after a record-shattering $12 million TV blitz financed by the tobacco industry.
Terhune said Kulongoski's new cigarettes tax proposal will be less than the 84.5-cent-per-pack proposal that was rejected by voters. And he said it will be written in more specific terms to make it clear that all of the money goes to children's health programs.

Cigarettes Maker Has Conducted 33 GM Tobacco Tests Since '05

Two days ago, Philip Morris backed NC-State scientists announced they'd genetically engineered tobacco plants to have reduced levels of some carcinogens. Further investigation by Wired.com revealed that the tobacco giant has applied for 34 field test permits for genetically modified tobacco since May of 2005, according to the USDA field trials database. 33 of the permits were issued.
Over the last three years, the USDA received 117 total applications to test GM tobacco strains, including 19 by North Carolina State University, which received $17.5 million from Philip Morris in December 2002 to map the tobacco genome.

Little can be determined about the types of studies that Philip Morris has run because they've labeled the details of their field permit applications, "Confidential Business Information," sealing them from public scrutiny.
Philip Morris is not alone among tobacco companies in genetically modifying tobacco. Vector Tobacco, which has developed a low-nicotine variety of the crop, has applied for 14 field permits since 2005, although five were rejected. RJ Reynolds has applied for six, and had one denied.
But the scale of the Philip Morris' genetic engineering program caught even staunch anti-GMO groups off-guard. Bill Freese, of Center for Food Safety, commented, "I'm shocked."
Many groups that fight genetically modified organisms focus on genetically modified food or "pharming," or the practice of synthesizing pharmaceuticals in cigarettes plants. Tobacco, however, is a natural drug crop and falls between the cracks of most watchdog groups. For example, Vector has been marketing cigarettes with genetically modified tobacco under the Quest 1-2-3 brand since 2003, according to an interview the company's CEO gave to Business Week. Almost no public outcry has resulted.

Kentucky not alone with its budget problems

As Kentucky faces a projected revenue shortfall of nearly $1 billion over the next two fiscal years, the state is not alone in the nation when it comes to grappling with sagging revenues and increasing budgetary needs.
Kentucky is among states across the country that are facing tough budget decisions this year, according to a review by The Associated Press. Nearly two dozen states are facing shortfalls that combined total more than $34 billion, the AP review found.
"Nearly all the states are having problems, and the ones that aren't are getting ready to have problems because of the downturn in the national economy," said House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green. "This is not unique to Kentucky in any way."
Kentucky is facing a projected budget shortfall of approximately $900 million over the next two fiscal years beginning July 1. That's about $580 million in fiscal 2009 and about $300 million in 2010.
Lawmakers in Kentucky are pondering various options, including raising the state's tax on cigarettes and significant cuts to higher education funding. Gov. Steve Beshear has proposed a two-year spending plan that calls for 12 percent cuts to public universities and multiple government programs and agencies.
Beshear has proposed an austere two-year $18.5 billion spending plan that includes significant cuts to state agencies and public universities. Kentucky's current two-year budget is about $18.1 billion.
But Beshear has said that cuts to higher education and other areas of state government were needed to offset unavoidable hikes in "have to" areas such as Medicaid and the state's prison system.
Beshear has already ordered 3 percent spending cuts to state government and public universities in an effort to resolve the current fiscal year's $434 million budget shortfall. Beshear attributed the current year fiscal problems to less income than was considered in the budget, additional spending that was authorized by the General Assembly since the budget was passed and additional spending needs in programs such as Medicaid and the state's prison system.
A group of Kentucky economists, known as the Consensus Forecasting Group, predicts shrinking revenue from various sources, including corporate and individual income taxes and sales taxes.
Now Kentucky lawmakers are considering ways to increase revenue.
Beshear is pushing a proposal to legalize casino gambling, which he says could bring at least $500 million in license fees by next year and $600 million in new revenue in future years.
The Kentucky House last week approved a budget proposal that called for an increase in the cigarettes tax of 25 cents per pack. Beshear wants lawmakers to pass a 70-cent cigarette tax increase and use the revenue to generate up to $800 million in new revenue through bonds.
Beshear, who has opposed raising such taxes, said he believed the proposed cuts to state government would be too severe.
Senate President David Williams, however, said there is "very little if any sentiment" for raising taxes. The state is in "tough economic times," and there will likely be "some cuts," Williams said.
"I never have believed, and do not believe, that we are in a fiscal crisis," Williams said.
Nevertheless, Kentucky's Medicaid program would likely fall short at least $360 million over the next two fiscal years under Beshear's proposed budget, Health and Family Services Secretary Janie Miller recently told a legislative panel.
Under the House-approved plan, Kentucky would also refinance General Fund debt, and other services would be taxed under the proposal. Public-school teachers, however, would see a pay increase of 4 percent over the next two years under the proposal.
Along with the cigarettes tax increase, the House revenue package counts on revenue from higher taxes on other tobacco products and a variety of business services to generate an additional $95 million. Revenue from the taxes coupled with cost-saving provisions would generate some $800 million over the next two years. One of the largest of those provisions calls for restructuring and refinancing General Fund debts to save about $300 million over two years.
Williams said he did not agree with the House's proposal, which is pending in the Senate.
"I think that that's not responsible," Williams said of the House plan.

Darling clobbers booze, cigarettes

Alistair Darling has slapped more tax on cigarettes and alcohol as he scaled back on his economic forecast.
In what he called his "budget for stability", the Chancellor also moved to reaffirm the Government's green credentials by introducing moves to help the environment.
Among the measures announced are the prospect of a charge on plastic bags and free road tax for one year of low-emission cars. However, he postponed a planned increase in fuel duty until next October.
Booze and cigarettes will rise dramatically at midnight on Sunday - the eve of St Patrick's Day - to help raise money to tackle child poverty, he said.
Duty rates will increase by 6% above inflation with beer up by 4p a pint, cider 3p a litre, wine 14p a bottle and spirits 55p a bottle. Duty on tobacco rises from 6pm today, adding 11p to the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes and 4p to five cigars.
It was a difficult first budget for the Chancellor with the UK economy facing the biggest slowdown since Labour came to power and a large hole in Treasury coffers. High levels of government debt and the global credit crunch left him with few options.
Standing at the despatch box, unveiling Labour's 12th budget, he spared motorists a further hike at the pumps with the planned 2p rise in fuel duty - which kicks in automatically every year - delayed "to support the economy now and help business and families".
He added: "For environmental reasons we will increase fuel duty by 0.5p per litre in real terms from 2010."
The move sparked widespread criticism from environmental campaigners, who claimed it damaged the government's green credentials, but soaring crude oil prices have left fuel inflation at the highest since records began in January 1997.
In a nod to tackling green issues he announced legislation to come into force in 2009 to impose a charge on single-use carrier bags if progress is not made on a voluntary basis.
The Chancellor confirmed that the Government was poised to impose charges on the use of plastic carrier bags unless supermarkets make "sufficient" progress on a voluntary basis.
He said legislation would come into force in 2009 and could lead to around 12 billion fewer plastic bags in circulation.
He announced plans for a zero rate of car tax in the first year for new, low emission cars but a higher first year rate on the most polluting cars.
Despite keeping a tight rein on the purse strings there were a few bonuses. Parents will get an extra £50 a year above inflation on the child element of the tax credit from next April and a further £125m to be spent over the next three years to help families.
Child benefit for the first child will rise to £20 a week from 2009 - a year earlier than planned.
And five million customers on energy pre-payment meters will be given a fairer deal, with legislation if necessary.
Mr Darling said all economies were trying to maintain stability during the global slowdown but insisted Britain was better placed to do so. He told MPs growth in the British economy was estimated at 1.75% to 2.25% in 2008 - higher than Japan or the US - and will rise to 2.25%-2.75% in 2009 and 2.5%-3% by 2010.
Corporation tax will fall from 30% to 28% by April this year, he confirmed.
To prevent a return to the high inflation of the early 1990s he said he is writing to the governor of the Bank of England to keep a 2% target on inflation.
Today's budget was a major test for Mr Darling, who has come under increasing criticism for his handling of the Northern Rock crisis, attempts to tax wealthy "non dom" foreigners living in Britain, and his overhaul of the capital gains tax system.
He told MPs that the Government's action to support Northern Rock and protect depositors and savers meant that confidence and stability in the banking system had been maintained despite the "worst period of financial disruption for a generation".
The Tories said that for the "first time in years" the story of the budget is the state of the economy and the incompetence of a government that failed to prepare. A spokesman said: "We know that after 15 years of global economic growth, Britain has the worst budget deficit of any major economy."

Assembly Approves Fire-Safe Cigarettes

All cigarettes sold in Wisconsin would have to be the type that automatically extinguish when they're not being smoked under a bill that has passed the Assembly.

Wisconsin would join 22 other states in requiring that only fire-safe cigarettes be sold should the bill also clear the Senate and be signed by the governor.

Tobacco companies do not oppose the measure, which has the support of firefighters and emergency responders.
sponsor

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company plans to voluntarily switch all its cigarettes to the fire-safe kind by the end of next year.