Tobacco Iowa Tax Hike

DES MOINES -- Democratic leaders who control the Iowa House promised Thursday to move quickly on a bill raising the state cigarette tax by $1 per pack.

The bill passed early this morning after several hours of debate that began last night. The measure would raise the tax by one dollar per pack, to a dollar 36. It would also increase the tax on other tobacco products by a commensurate percentage.

Lawmakers estimate the tax hike would raise more than $15 million during the final three months of the current budget year. That would be a bonus on top of the $127.6 million the tax hike is expected to collect during Fiscal Year 2008.

"I think you're way out of line," Sen. Mike Connolly, D-Dubuque, told Republicans. "You continue with the people way against you on this issue. ... They know better than that. Many people feel these people are purveyors of death."

Smokers could soon be digging deeper into their pockets to pay a dollar-a-pack increase in the state cigarette tax.

After debating the issue for several hours the Senate approved increasing the cigarette tax by $1 per pack increasing to $1.36 the tax on each pack of smokes. The increase has convenience store retailers concerned that customers will cross state lines or head to Native American reservations for lower-cost alternatives.

How smoke is dangerous!

Cigarettes and second hand cigarette smoke are dangerous.

Smoking can damage our body, For Example, your lungs, your brain, and your heart. The poisonous chemicals in a cigarette can cause death. Think about this, if you smoke you won't be able to run fast or jump as high if you can't breathe properly.
The City Council and General Assembly can nurture that choice by requiring all bars and restaurants to determine their own smoking policies. Smoking-allowed establishments can then choose whether to be all-smoking or to have separate smoking and nonsmoking sections. To help consumers identify which establishments cater to their preferences, bars and restaurants could be required to post their smoking policies at their entrances, and they could be penalized for violating them.
There are surely other associated risks specific to your own situation (e.g. if you smoked in the house, I would factor in risk of fire) . Don't forget to try to take these into account.
The Wednesday of National Non-Smoking Week is termed Weedless Wednesday. Smokers are urged to refrain from smoking on this day. The intention is to kickstart the process of quitting smoking as well as gaining media coverage.

Passive smoking is the act of breathing in secondhand smoke.

Tobacco smoke contains over 400 chemicals, and over 60 are known or suspected to be carcinogenic (cancer-causing). A controversial study published in the British Medical Journal appears to show that in non-smokers regularly exposed to smoke via their spouses were not at significant risk of cancer or heart disease.

According to Cancer Research UK, passive smokers are 20 to 30 per cent more likely to develop lung cancer than people not exposed to smoke, with several hundred deaths occurring as a direct result in the UK each year.

Cigar festival on Cuba

Wealthy cigar aficionados toasted the health of ailing leader Fidel Castro and shelled out $728,000 at an annual auction of elaborate humidors that for the first time did not bear the signature of the 80-year-old revolutionary.

Owned by millionaire David Tang, the company sells $70 million worth of cigars a year in Hong Kong, said Holmboe, who took home a solid cedar humidor with 160 H.Upmann cigars for 33,000 euros ($43,560).

About 800 people from more than 40 nations attended this year's elegant dinner wrapping up five days of seminars on the qualities of Cuba's finest smokes, as well as trips to tobacco fields, curing houses and cigar factories.

Javier Terres, a vice president, said no figures were available on how many Cuban cigars are consumed or sold illegally every year in the United States. While half of the world's cigars are smoked in the U.S., Cuba has 75 percent of the premium cigar market. Sales of Habanos' premium hand-rolled cigars rose 8 percent to $370 million last year despite public smoking bans around the world, officials said.

Through Habanos S.A., a partnership of the Cuban government and the Spanish-French tobacco firm Altadis, the island produces more than a third of the world's cigars for export, with sales of $370 million last year. Although a trade embargo on the island prevents Cuba from marketing its cigars in the United States, its hand-rolled smokes are highly popular among Americans and numerous Americans attend the Habanos festival each year.