Bright spark finds key to quitting smoking

A girl of ten who used her pocket money to develop one of her many inventions has just landed a five-figure contract for a design. Megan Ward is being touted as the youngest inventor in Britain after securing an order for her 3D keyrings that aim to put people off smoking.

The bright spark’s key fob shows a plastic set of lungs blackened with the tar from just four packets of cigarettes.

‘I am really excited that lots of people will see them and I hope it puts them off smoking for life,’ she said

‘My great-grandma died from smoking and I think it’s horrible. It smells nasty and it’s bad for you.’

Her dream of marketing the idea became a reality after she spent £34 on having a prototype created in China.

She sent it to anti-smoking consultancy, Gasp, which placed an order for 25,000 keyrings worth £12,000.

‘It is absolutely extraordinary that she has come up with this aged ten,’ said a spokeswoman for Gasp. Megan’s father, 48, said: ‘She just amazes me. I don’t know where it all comes from.

‘We handed out a few of her keyrings at school and five parents gave up smoking after seeing it, it’s that powerful.’

Other inventions his daughter has patented include a UV indicator wristband and a T-shirt which changes colour when the sun is strong.

Megan, from Whyteleafe, Surrey, suffers from dyslexia which means she’s usually at the bottom of her class but her mother, Paula, 37, said her little girl ‘more than compensates with her inventiveness’.

Her biggest hero is the inventor of the wind-up radio Trevor Bayliss.

‘Even people with no electricity can hear it and it has helped lots of people."

Source: The Metro, 18 January 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/6YUriw

China: Cities set to order ban on smoking

To protect people from exposure to secondhand smoke, seven cities in China will take the first steps in creating legislation on stopping smoking at public venues and workplaces. 

Under the project, jointly held by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease(UNION), the cities - Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenyang, Harbin, Nanchang, Lanzhou and Shenzhen will implement a smoking ban in public and in workplaces.

Currently, smoking is allowed in certain areas in public places, and experts said the enforcement of smoking bans is poor.

"This project would create strict legislation to guarantee 100-percent smokefree public venues and workplaces and figure out a feasible and forceful working mechanism to enforce the smoking ban," said Wang Yu, director of China CDC at the project launch.

"Only with the support of the pilot cities' municipal governments and legislatures can the people there finally enjoy smoke-free environments," he noted.

Apart from 1 million smoking-related deaths each year in China, passive smoking causes around 100,000 deaths annually in the country.

"In that regard, the project, if realized, would help save millions of lives through lowering tobacco consumption and reducing secondhand smoking," said Dr Sinead Jones with UNION.

"The project would be scaled up to cover the whole nation in the future to protect more people from smoking," said Wang.

Xie Zhiyong, professor with the China University of Political Science and Law, said by weighing the benefits and risks of tobacco, the country should take bolder steps in smoking and tobacco control.

Official statistics show smoking costs the nation more than 252 billion yuan ($37 billion) each year in medical costs, fire and environmental pollution, far beyond the tax revenue generated from the industry.

"For smoking bans in public places, legislation comes first, with implementation the key link," Xie said.

At present, health administrations are in charge of enforcing smoking bans in public places, which are usually poorly staffed, according to Xie.

Besides, some local governments count heavily on the local tobacco industry as a major source of tax revenue, which as a result makes smoking more difficult to control, he said, adding that tobacco companies are all State owned in China.

Smoking control might be the first step towards tobacco control, which needs support from the decision maker, the legislature and the media, he added.

Source: China Daily, 18 January 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/6PD8Cj

US: Tobacco companies said to have met with U.S. on lawsuit

Tobacco company lawyers met with U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan last month to urge her not to file a Supreme Court appeal in the government’s racketeering case against the industry, an official involved in the Justice Department’s deliberations about the case said. 

The meeting ultimately might lead to settlement talks, though the two sides haven’t had any contact since then, the person said.

The discussion with Kagan, the Obama administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer, led to an internal Justice Department meeting about the government’s options, the person said.

The two sides have until Feb. 19 to file Supreme Court appeals. In May, a federal appeals court in Washington upheld a ruling that companies including Richmond, Virginia-based Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA and Winston Salem, North Carolina-based Reynolds American Inc.’s RJ Reynolds Tobacco conspired to defraud the public about the dangers of smoking. The companies have signaled in court papers that they will appeal.

The same court previously barred the government from seeking the return of $280 billion in past industry profits. Although the Supreme Court rejected the government’s appeal on that issue in 2005, Kagan could renew that request.

The solicitor general often meets with litigants to hear their arguments before the government takes a position at the Supreme Court. Kagan also met with lawyers for anti-tobacco activists who are involved in the case, according to a private lawyer familiar with those discussions.

The December meeting with Kagan involved Miguel Estrada, who represents Philip Morris, and Michael Carvin, who represents RJ Reynolds. One item discussed at the meeting was the possibility of a so-called walk-away agreement under which neither side would seek Supreme Court review, the Justice Department official said. Neither side made an express offer of settlement, the person said.

Tracy Schmaler, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said in an e-mail that she couldn’t confirm the meeting with tobacco industry lawyers.

Estrada, reached by phone, declined to comment. Two Reynolds spokesmen, David Howard and Tommy Payne, didn’t immediately respond to voice mail messages and e-mails left after normal business hours. Carvin didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail. Calls to Altria weren’t immediately returned.

Source: Bloombery, 16 January 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/4BccsY

Smokers hit with hefty fines for dropping cigarettes in Huddersfield

Smokers have been fined hundreds of pounds for dropping cigarette butts in Huddersfield town centre.

Eight smokers received hefty fines at Huddersfield Magistrates Court after they failed to pay fixed penalty notices they received last summer.

The smokers were caught throwing cigarette ends onto the ground in New Street, Cross Church Street, Queen Street and King Street by Kirklees Council civil enforcement officers.

If they had paid the fixed fine issued at the time it would have cost just £75.

But six of the eight were left counting the cost of their expensive habit with fines of more than £550.

The highest fine was given to Simon Morgan of Ashenhurst Road, Newsome, who was spotted dropping a cigarette on New Street.

Morgan was left with a £626 bill to the court after he failed to enter any plea or respond to the court summons.

He was fined £175 for the littering offence and ordered to pay £436 court costs plus the £15 victim surcharge.

Eight others were fined between £290 and £603 depending on whether they pleaded guilty to the offence or not.

Magistrates rewarded people who pleaded guilty by reducing their fines to £75.

They were also not made to pay the full court costs.

The only person to appear in court, Thomas Warrilow, of Oxley Road, Sheepridge, received the lowest fine of £290.

The highest fine for dropping a fag end in Huddersfield so far went to Lee Hallas in March last year.

Hallas, of Briarlyn Road, Birchencliffe was slapped with a £1,015 court bill for throwing a cigarette butt out of his car window in Milnsbridge.

If he had paid the fine issued at the time it would have cost him just £60.
 

Source: Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 15 January 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/7jPnoH

Two jailed for evading duty on fake cigarettes

Two men from London were each jailed for 12 months for evading more than £95,000 in excise duty on counterfeit cigarettes.

Haji Saedi, 48, and Mohammed Kashif, 39, were jailed at Isleworth Crown Court following an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) officers.

In March and July 2009, officers searched premises and vehicles in Northolt, Southall, Acton and Finchley and seized over 535,000 cigarettes and over £16,000 believed to be proceeds of criminal activities. Officers established that the two men were selling the cigarettes in London cheaply. They were charged with harbouring cigarettes when duty hadn't been paid.

Stuart Crookshank Assistant Director HMRC said: "HMRC takes the smuggling of cigarettes, particularly counterfeit ones very seriously. We will continue to work closely with other law enforcement agencies to root these criminals out."

Source: Ealing Gazzette, 14 January 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/69Oi8P