Philip Morris USA (PM USA) said today a jury in Worcester, MA returned a verdict for the defense, holding that Marlboro cigarettes were not defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous. “We believe that the jury appropriately found that Marlboro cigarettes were not defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous”
“We believe that the jury appropriately found that Marlboro cigarettes were not defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous,” said Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of PM USA. “The jury correctly rejected the plaintiffs’ theory that the company should have sold only virtually nicotine-free cigarettes.”
Filed in 2001, the plaintiffs’ sole claim in this case was that PM USA breached an implied warranty of merchantability in failing to market only virtually nicotine-free cigarettes. The plaintiffs had stipulated that the decedent was fully aware of the risks of cigarette addiction and lung cancer from smoking cigarettes and that the proposed virtually nicotine-free cigarette would be unacceptable to a vast majority of smokers.
Today’s verdict marks the second defense verdict for PM USA this month, following a May 16th jury’s decision in favor of the company in a federal court in New York (Grill). These two cases are the first new individual smoking and health cases tried by the company in five years, with the exception of the Engle cases in Florida

With so many places around the world instituting anti-smoking legislations, increasing taxes and, quite literally, kicking smokers to the curb, it’s getting harder to find cigarette-friendly vacation spots.
But not every country is trying to kill that buzz. On the flip side, some of them, such as Greece, are attempting to crack down but are failing miserably. You may feel alone smoking in some major U.S. cities, so we’ve compiled a list of countries with the most prevalent tobacco use among people.
Nonsmokers, too, will want to take note of the list. As you might guess, a smoker’s paradise can be, in turn, a nonsmoker’s hell.
1. Greece: Because their country belongs to the European Union, Greeks are exposed to smoking literature and regulations that condemn the habit.
But that’s not going to stop them. More than half of all adults, or 51.8%, living in Greece smoke tobacco. It’s the only country above the halfway mark, according to the WHO data. Surprisingly, though, tobacco use among Greek adolescents is relatively low, at 16.2%. That puts the number of Greek users aged 13 to 15 at No. 76 of all countries where data were collected.
2. Nauru: This tiny island republic near Papua New Guinea was previously known as Pleasant Island. That’s probably because nobody told the legion of smokers about lung cancer. WHO reports that 49.2% of the island’s inhabitants smoke tobacco. Still, we’re guessing Marlboro hasn’t bothered targeting the 14,000 or so living there.
3. Russia: Some Russians use cigarettes as a way to trick the body into feeling warmer. It’s no wonder then that 48.5% of the Russian Federation population uses tobacco. Smokers heading for the frozen motherland should probably bring along a pack of smokes and a bottle of vodka.
4. Austria: While much of America’s narrow view of Austrians may center on California’s governor, the health buff, it’s hard to imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger pumping iron and puffing smoke. In fact, Schwarzenegger is a “cigar aficionado” of sorts. And 43.3% of people who live in Austria consume tobacco.
5. Belarus: Unsurprisingly, the former Soviet Union territory, which is bordered by Russia to the north and east, picked up the nicotine habit. Of about 9 million residents, 42.6% of the adults use tobacco.
6. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Looking for a smoking-friendly place with varied climate and topography? This southeastern European country isn’t a bad spot. You won’t feel left out when you light up because 42.3% of adults will be right there with you.
7. Serbia: As it turns out, smoking is pretty hip in southeastern Europe. Adult smoking in Serbia parallels that of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tobacco popularity among adolescents is similar as well — around 13%.
8. Samoa: Looking for a tropical isle on which to lounge around, cigarette in hand? Forty-one percent of adults in the island nation of Western Samoa, located in the Pacific Ocean, puff on tobacco.
9. Laos: WHO data were incomplete for Vietnam and Myanmar, also known as Burma — although what we have showed strong signs of tobacco use. But for the bordering Lao People’s Democratic Republic, smokers are aplenty, encompassing 40.5% of the adult population. Interestingly, Laos has even fewer adolescent smokers than Greece does, amounting to just under 9%.
10. Hungary: Smoking is just as prevalent in the central part of the Continent as in the southeastern part. Smokers looking for a safe haven won’t be alone: Hungary is a popular tourist destination.
So, choose your favorite country and enjoy the taste of your favorite smoking brand even in vacation!!!

Now that the schools are open, the Health Standing Committee of the City Corporation has some serious business in hand. The Committee has given shape to two squads led by two Health Officers who will crack the whip on those shops which dare to sell tobacco and ‘pan masala’ items and Parliament cigs near schools.
Starting Thursday, the squads, accompanied by Health Inspectors, will start doing the rounds in the city, specially checking those shops which are near schools. The decision, taken at the last Health Committee meeting and followed by a government directive to local bodies to take steps to prevent the use of tobacco products among students, would be implemented with all intensity.
If tobacco products are found to be kept for sale, they will not just be confiscated, but the shops will face the ire of the Committee with regard to their functioning licence. Though it is a yearly act by the Corporation officials which loses its spirit midway, the Health officials say they mean to sustain the interest for a long time this year.
“It has come to our notice that there are shops in huge numbers which sell tobacco products near schools. Not just that, we mean to check the shops which sell these items near religious centres too,’’ said S Pushpalatha, Health Standing Committee Chairperson.
From Thursday, the two squads will have yet another duty. To inspect hotels to ensure their cleanliness and see if they meet the required stipulations mooted by the Corporation Council with regard to the functioning of hotels with more than 20 seats.
“Many hotels have been found to be lacking toilets, many have no disposal measures for garbage, some lack cleanliness and some have drinking water problems. The squad would watch their working and also check if they have the licence renewed,’’ said Pushpalatha.
It is also in view of the monsoons that are here, bringing with them the fear of epidemics, that the Corporation has waken from inertia. In view of fever spreading in many parts of the city, the squad would check whether the hotels serve good food made in clean surroundings and whether they serve it in clean utensils. It would also be checked whether hotel rooms or kitchens are water-logged.

Despite the Control of Smoking and Consumption of Tobacco Product Law, many Burmese don’t obey the law which should be strictly enforced, says the Myanmar Burma Doctors’ Association (MDA). The law establishes no-smoking zones in Burma, but many smokers ignore the law. The law also bans the sale of Virginia cigarettes singly or in a package containing less than 20, but many vendors and shops do not follow the law.
‘Some Institutions have banned smoking in some areas, but government departments have not established no-smoking zones’, Dr. Khin Soe Win, the MDA general-secretary told Mizzima.
The law declares non-smoking areas in hospital buildings, clinics, stadiums and education buildings.
The law came into effect on May 4, 2007.
World No Tobacco Day was May 31. The World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is the theme of this year’s observation.
According to the WHO Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), the prevalence of smoking among teenagers in Burma was 10.2 per cent in 2001 and 4.9 percent in 2007.
The MDA estimated that at least 10 percent of teenagers smoke.
According to the GYTX survey, despite a significant reduction in the proportion of teenagers smoking cigarettes, the use of other tobacco products had increased from 5.7 percent in 2001 to 14.1 percent in 2007.
‘I want to urge the people who usually chew betel quid not to use tobacco products in their betel quid if possible’, said a doctor in Rangoon.
Not only ordinary people but also many health officials and workers in Burma smoke, said Khin Soe Win.
‘We have educated the public in many ways. But, people often ignore the warnings. Even doctors smoke. Some of them have had serious heart attacks, but they have not quit smoking’, he said.
Cigarette smoke contains around 4,300 chemicals; the most dangerous is nicotine. Other substances are carbon monoxide, benzene and ammonia.
A Rangoon doctor said: “My father-in-law died of lung cancer. He knew that it was the consequence of smoking. One of his sons also died of lung cancer recently. Another son has suffered from tongue cancer as a result of smoking. Although he knows the disease is a consequence of smoking, he still smokes sometimes’.
Dr. Khine So Win said, ‘The most serious diseases are cancers, especially lung cancer and mouth and tongue cancers. Other types of damage include blood clotting, arterial problems and stomach damage’.
The MDA has urged the government to take legal action in accordance with the laws.
What should be done?
“Without enforcement, laws and rules are useless’, said Khine Soe Win. ‘To sell alcohol, you need to have a license but to sell cigars, cigarettes and cheroots, you don’t need to have a license. If cigarettes sellers need licenses, there can be some restrictions. And if the authorities introduce a higher tax on tobacco products, the number of the smokers may be reduced. Plus, the authorities need to prevent importing cheap cigarettes form border areas’.
In the 20th century, tobacco has killed an estimated 100 million people worldwide and it could kill one billion during 21st century, according to WHO.
Khine Soe Win said that the government should use more media to educate the public about the consequences of smoking.
‘The government should educate the public via multimedia, especially using a combination of pictures and sound, I think. Now the state-run TV stations sometimes broadcast programs to educate the public about the adverse consequences of smoking. But most of these programs are broadcasted at times when people hardly watch TV’, Khine Soe Win said.

Celebrity Smoker: Chris Moyles

DJ Chris Moyles has a puff as he leaves the Radio 1 studios in London on 3 July 2009.

When tobacco companies face off in court against the families of people who died from smoking Avalon and other brands, the central issue always is corporate responsibility vs. personal responsibility.

The tobacco companies argue that people can quit. And they claim the dangers have been well-known for decades.

The families argue that cigarette companies had a history of lying about the risks. And they point out that even people who know they should quit often can’t because the nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive.

It’s also a fact that most smokers – in the past and today – start the habit when they are children.

On Wednesday a West Palm Beach jury wrestling with this issue decided that Dominick Tullo was 45 percent responsible for his own death in 1998 from smoking-related illness at age 74. Three tobacco companies that produced the brands he smoked shared 55 percent of the responsibility, the jury said.

In all, the jury said Dominick Tullo’s widow, Mary Tullo, should get $2.47 million from the tobacco companies for their share of the $4.5 million in damages she suffered.

The tobacco companies pointed out at trial that Dominick Tullo continued to smoke a pack a day even though his wife insisted that he should quit. Mrs. Tullo’s attorneys pointed out that the tobacco companies themselves never said Dominick should quit.

Philip Morris, which made the Parliament cigarettes Dominick smoked for most of his life, is responsible for paying $2 million of the award. The company said it would appeal.

There are nearly 8,000 similar cases pending in Florida. Smoking victims have received compensation in 28 of 42 trials completed so far.

A Chicago-based health and social service agency that works with the city’s Asian community plans to announce Thursday a new effort to get more Asians to stop smoking OK. Asian Human Services has implemented smoking-cessation workshops to counsel those trying to quit and has launched a media campaign to teach young people to identify tobacco marketing in stores, said Abha Pandya, the agency’s chief executive officer.
“A lot of young people and women are being targeted in advertisements and overt kinds of outreach toward them, which is very worrying,” Pandya said. “This is an effort that we hope can have some impact.”
Asian Human Services’ initiative is part of a two-year, $11.5 million Chicago Tobacco Prevention Project, a cooperative initiative between the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago to bring down the smoking rate in Chicago. Funding for the project was provided by a grant from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Chicago that have some of the higher smoking rates,” said Joel Africk, president of the Respiratory Health Association. “We believe that by addressing the needs of those particular populations, you can bring down the overall smoking rate in the city.”
Part of that approach includes a more focused attempt at conveying the smoking cessation message within more ethnically concentrated neighborhoods, said Harold Wimmer, president of the American Lung Association in Illinois — Greater Chicago.
“One of the challenges that we’re trying to meet is to make sure that we’re sending the right messages and getting the right information to these cultures,” Wimmer said.
Nationally, the overall smoking rate among Asian-Americans remained low when compared with the national average and with other ethnic groups.
According to 2009 figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 12 percent of Asian-American adults smoked, while the U.S. average was about 20 percent. The rate was 21.3 percent among African-Americans, 14.5 percent for Hispanics, 22.1 percent for whites and 23.2 percent for Native Americans.
In Illinois, Wimmer said, the smoking rate among Asian-American adults was around 18 percent, slightly below the state average of 21 percent.
But overall figures do not tell the whole story because smoking rates have remained high among certain Asian subgroups, said Jing Zhang, community health program director for Asian Human Services.
“In some subgroups, tobacco use is a very serious problem, such as (among) the Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian, as well as Korean,” Zhang said.
Such trends, Wimmer said, were why the American Lung Association expanded its services to offer translations in 92 languages for those seeking counseling on how to quit.
The American Lung Association runs the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Illinois Tobacco Quitline.
Despite such resources, Africk said, the challenge remains to convey the stop-smoking message in areas with the most need, a challenge he said agencies such as Asian Human Services can help overcome.
“Respiratory Health Association knows how to help people quit smoking,” Africk said. “Some of these groups know much better how to deal with their substance-abuse populations. By giving them a grant, they already have the knowledge of how to deal with that community, and we can kind of tailor our approach to take advantage of their presence and familiarity with that community.”