International experience shows the positive results of raising the excise tax on tobacco

Statistics of the number of people smoking in various countries shows that the decrease in the number of smokers can be successfully combated. One of the controversial topics among Russian experts is to increase the excise rates on tobacco and tobacco products.

Russia's experts argue that the increase in excise tax rates only temporarily make cigarettes less accessible and, simultaneously, will fill the budget. In their view, increase the price of tobacco products quickly leads to filling the market for smuggled goods. As a result, the flow of funds in the budget from the excise tax, only declining, the tobacco industry is going through difficult times, curtailing production and decreasing the amount of tax deductions. But most important: the smoker still get cigarettes for him at an affordable price.

Scientists do not agree with the experts and give us examples of New York. From 1 July 2002 excise tax on cigarettes was increased from 80 cents to 1.5 dollars. A year later, New York could boast that revenues in the budget grew by 10 times! The volume of sales fell by almost half.

At present, Russia has one of the lowest excise tax rates in the world: about 1 euro cents. For comparison, excise rates on tobacco in the UK is about 5 euros per pack. In the European Union set a minimum rate of excise tax (1,28 euro for a pack of cigarettes), which took all the new EU members.

Say No!

Russia takes first place in the world of smoking by children and adolescents. For seventeen years we have smoked every third teenager.
That is to reduce the frightening figures, at a press conference in "Interfax" was told the director of the Public Council "Your Choice," Tatjana MARKICHEVA and Head of Consumer Protection Office Rospotrebnadzor FNL Valentina Mironova.

It is the availability of cigarettes to children and young specialists call one of the main causes of early smoking. More recently, buy a pack, and, if necessary, and a couple of cigarettes a teenager could have on every corner. The situation began to change only in 2002, when Russia adopted the Federal Law "On Restriction of tobacco smoking, banning the sale of tobacco products to persons under 18 years. However, seven years after execution of the law leaves much to be desired. The reason is trivial: there is no adequate mechanism for its execution. That is, as often happens, the law is, and sanctions for its violation of the no. Code of Administrative Offenses not prescribe direct responsibility for the sale of tobacco. Article 14.15 provides: "Violation of the rules of the sale of certain goods shall entail the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in size from 300 to 1500 rubles for officials - from 1000 to 3000, and on legal entities - from 10 000 to 30 000 rubles." But law-enforcement practice in this article, is insignificant.
Public Council to support the positive development of youth "Your Choice" decided to make a bid to prevent the sale of tobacco to minors through education and awareness of employees of retail trade. As told Tatiana Markicheva in 2004 in seven regions, including Novosibirsk, started the program to prevent tobacco sales to children and adolescents:
- Our program includes surveys of workers in trade of the Law "On Restriction of tobacco smoking" and training "Sumey say no!". In 2006 we created a self-titled film, learning the correct refusal to sell cigarettes. In Moscow, in a major commercial network movie is already included in the mandatory instruction of staff in employment. In Novosibirsk, we are not the first time. And very telling was our last training. If you usually go with 25-30 people, this time it came to fifty. There were representatives of major retail chains and small retail trade points, where the majority of violations. They came and owners and directors, and managers of staff, and vendors. Participation in the training was free. It's nice that the representatives of all the retailers have said they will use our film in training. By the way, not all vendors understand why we are working with them rather than with their parents or schools. Before training, we show a sketch of the Rostov VGTRK about a boy who was five years old in the same stall selling cigarettes. Now he was ten, he recognized nikotinozavisimym, wants to quit, but do so without the help of specialists it will be very difficult.
In 2004 and 2009 were interviewed representatives of 200 outlets in Novosibirsk for the execution of the Law "On Restriction of ...". The dynamics of reducing sales and raise awareness about the law of sales there. At least, this show surveys.
- No note "from the parents' or mobile phone, transmitted to the seller, can not be the basis for the sale of adolescent cigarette - tells about tricks of young smokers Tatiana Markicheva. - It is purely a feature of Russia. When talking about it to colleagues from the other camp, they do not understand what they mean. There is a law, and then note? - Puzzled foreigners. Siberian sellers have complained that they are denied something, but often fits "compassionate" an adult and buy cigarettes for the child. And adults can not refuse the sale. We have control over the sale of cigarettes and took up social organizations, sometimes in conjunction with the media and the police. In Moscow it often. Dummy teenager tries to buy cigarettes, and where he did, a crowd of volunteers are glued display posters "Here are poisoning our children and drunkards."
We teach salespeople how to talk to a teenager, to refuse the sale properly, calmly, without vulgarity. We can not send teenagers! This can be dangerous for the seller. Especially in kiosks. In the supermarket you can call the guards. But we believe if the seller refuses kiosk without attacking, confident and polite, the teenager is not "be acquired" and will not continue a meaningless dialogue.
As described Valentina Mironova, Office Rospotrebnadzor regularly monitoring and oversight activities on all matters of the Law on Restrictions ... "but on the facts of the sale of cigarettes to minors calls from citizens either in 2008 or in 2009, they have not been at all. No one (!) The fact of such an offense is not installed. Not a single case had not gone to trial.
- To confirm the sale, - explains Valentina subtleties mechanism - need control procurement involving children. Federal Service has no right to conduct such a purchase. This can be done only by, the Interior Ministry. Should be fixed all the circumstances of the sale with an invitation to the officer after completing your test preparation materials protocol on administrative violation for the court. We work only on referral, and I wonder why, with such an abundance of calls in connection with various breaches of trade, on the subject no one goes. What it is: lack of awareness or indifference?
Make it so that the teenager is never ever to sell cigarettes - is the goal pursued by activists of the "Your choice". In addition, they took the initiative to introduce the CAO directly responsible for the sale of cigarettes to minors (by analogy with the sale of beer). In the first reading of the bill was rejected, however, as Tatiana Markicheva assured, they will pursue this further.

Statistics
Over the past 20 years the number of smokers in Russia has increased by 440 thousand people. A large proportion of the growth in youth and women.
The country has 65% of men smoke and more than 30% of women. Of these, 80% and 50%, respectively, acquired the pernicious habit of being underage.
At the age of 15 to 19 years of smoking 40% of boys and 7% of girls. According to VTsIOM, to 17 years of smoke already 30,4% Russian teenagers, and the average age of onset of smoking 10-11 years.
What can each of us?
If you are a teenager sold cigarettes, you can:
Call or come in "public reception" of the Office Rospotrebnadzor FNL (tel. 201-08-59 str. Chelyuskintsev, 7a).
Report of the fact that the department, headed by Valentina Mironova (tel. 220-20-95, 220-28-86) - by mail or in person. Term of consideration of applications to 30 days. Specify where there was a violation of law, their last name, first name, middle name and address.
Go to the website of the Office of Rospotrebnadzor FNL (www. sanepid-nso.ru) and leave your message in the section "Questions and Answers".
Leave a violation of the book reviews, which should be in any commercial enterprise. Write to when and how much there was the fact of illegal sale, if known, the name of the seller (the cashier), leave your email address. Head of the company is obliged to respond to you about the measures taken in the book itself, and if you left the address, it is also a letter by mail.
Remind the seller about the existence of the law and that he, too, is or will be children.

Philip Morris to pay $ 8 million a widow Chain Smoker

In the U.S., the jury awarded the widow of a chain smoker\'s $ 8 million in damages: This $ 3 million in damages and $ 5 million in punitive damages. Her lawsuit sought $ 130 million.

Victory May intensify other lawsuits against the tobacco companies who deliberately manipulate and sold products to customers addict, even while he killed them. Interestingly, many of the Big Tobacco Historic actions (corruption, fraud, bribery, etc.) are now regularly practiced by Big Pharma, which also sells the toxic chemicals that kill people.


Sources for this article:

• Health Unit helmet Tobacco Marketing to Women
- U.S. News and World Report

• Tobacco giant Philip Morris ordered to pay
- MSNBC

Authors of quotations for Philip Morris

Below you will find selected excerpts from the authors on the subject said \"Philip Morris\". Do not hesitate to quote them in your own work, given the proper credit as the original author quoted here, and this NaturalNews page.

Based on this masterpiece of comprehensive scientific research, Philip Morris and then turned around and, with Dr. Fishbein blessing, the study used as the basis for advertising campaigns that are conducted regularly in AMA Magazine and other medical journals for nearly 20 years. Advertising offered doctors free package of Philip Morris, as well as companies that sent representatives to doctors offices to give them free cigarettes and talk with them about the health benefits of cigarettes.
- Restore Health: Exploding the medical myth and implement the True Source of Healing, John Robbins
- Available at Amazon.com

Meanwhile, cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris, the Journal of the largest single advertiser, but also faced some problems. Blitzing SAP magazine and thirty-one state and regional medical journals, at the early stage of tobacco companies seeking to promote its innovative use of diethylene glycol as a hygroscopic agent (to retain moisture), in place of the glycerin used by other manufacturers. Philip Morris pegged its campaign on hyping breakthrough that cigarettes have been \"less irritating to the throat.\"
- When Healing becomes a crime: The amazing story of the Hoxsey Cancer Clinics and the Return of Alternative Therapies Kenny Ausubel
- Available at Amazon.com

One magazine advertisement which read: \"Patients with coughs were instructed to change to Philip Morris cigarettes. In three of the four cases, a cough disappeared completely. When these patients changes in cigarettes by the usual method of production, coughs had returned in one third of all cases. This is Philip Morris, the superiority of the employment of diethylene glycol. \" The campaign was wildly successful and established Philip Morris as a major player in the tobacco, until in 1937, seventy-two people died as a result of drugs called Sulfanalamide Massengill.

Popularity

The prevalence of cigar smoking varies depending on locality, historical era, and population surveyed, and prevalence approximations vary somewhat depending on the survey method. The U.S. is the top consuming country by far, followed by Germany and the UK; the U.S. and Western Europe account for about 75% of cigar sales worldwide. The 2005 U.S. National Health Interview Survey estimated that 2.2% of adults smoke cigars, about the same as smokeless tobacco but far less than the 21% of adults who smoke cigarettes; it also estimated that 4.3% of men but only 0.3% of women smoke cigars. The 2002 U.S. National Survey of Drug Use and Health found that adults with serious psychological distress are significantly more likely to smoke cigars than those without. A 2007 California study found that gay men and bisexual women smoke significantly fewer cigars than the general population of men and women, respectively.Substantial and steady increases in cigar smoking were observed during the 1990s and early 2000s in the U.S. among both adults and adolescents. Data suggest that cigar usage among young adult males increased threefold during the 1990s, a 1999–2000 survey of 31,107 young adult U.S. military recruits found that 12.3% smoked cigars, and a 2003–2004 survey of 4,486 high school students in a Midwestern county found that 18% smoked cigars.

Manufacturing process of the cigar

The tobacco that is rolled into cigars is primarily grown in the tropical regions of the world. Africa, Brazil, the Canary Islands, Connecticut, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Sumatra are world renown in cultivating the quality tobacco that is used in the diverse components of a cigar.
Tobacco is planted in late September and generally takes two months to reach maturity. Harvesting begins before the plants flower and can take more than a few months as the leaves are harvested in different phases.

Once the tobacco is harvested the leaves are sent to "tobacco barns" where the tobacco is dried. Leaves are tied in pairs and hung for the curing process. The tobacco barn faces from west so that the sun hits one side in the morning and one side at night. The doors at either side can be opened or closed to keep the temperature constant. The tobacco is kept in the barn for approximately 2 months while the leaves change color from green to yellow to brown.
After the leaves are dried, they are carefully laid into large piles for fermentation, where they are kept for several months. The piles are moistened and covered in cloth and are watched closely as the temperature can rise and harm the tobacco. The fermentation reduces natural resins, ammonia and nicotine present in the tobacco leaves.

The fermented tobacco is taken to warehouses, stored in large bales and allowed to slowly mature. The aging process can last from several months to many years depending on the quality desired.
Once the aged tobacco reaches the factory, the leaves are graded according to size, color, and quality. Leaves that are torn or have holes are set aside and used primarily as filler. Finally the leaves are de-veined by removing the center vein from the leaf.
There are three basic components that make up a cigar.
1. The filler.
2. The binder.
3. The wrapper.

Handmade cigars are composed of filler tobacco bunched together with a binder leave and finally covered with the wrapper leaf. Cigars with long leaves bunched together as filler are called "long filler" cigars. Cigars with short, fragmented leaves bunched together as filler are called "short filler" cigars. The binder holds the bunch together and is enclosed with the wrapper leaf in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

Machine made cigars are usually produced using short filler. A processed tobacco binder which resembles brown paper is used as the binder, and in most cases a natural wrapper is used to complete the cigar.