Cigarettes news and store.

Maybe the promoters think Kelly Clarkson’s concert will suck without cigarettes.

Antismoking activists are fired up after learning that billboards and TV ads promoting the singer’s upcoming concert in Jakarta are sponsored by L.A. Lights, an Indonesian cigarette brand that is using the opportunity to plaster its logo all over the Clarkson promos.

“If Kelly Clarkson goes ahead with the concert, she is by choice being a spokesman for the tobacco industry and helping them to market to children,” said Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

“She has the power now to turn this situation around and to send a clear message to Indonesian young people and, frankly, to the young people of the world.”

We’re thinking that, after getting a whiff of this controversy, Clarkson will want to go the Alicia Keys route.

Less than two years ago, at Keys’ behest, sponsor Philip Morris International pulled its A Mild brand logo and slogans from all promotional materials for Keys’ Jakarta concert after the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids complained.

L.A. Lights are produced by Indonesia’s third-largest tobacco company, Djarum, which maintains that it’s in compliance with government policy on tobacco advertising.

Reps for Clarkson and her record label have not yet commented on the complaints. Her concert at Tennis Indoors Senayan Jakarta is scheduled for April 29.

Tobacco use is the greatest preventable cause of death and medical disability in the United States. Tobacco kills and contributes significantly to the development of killers like heart disease and cancer. Yet its deadly impact is preventable. When people stop smoking, their risk of death and disability drops steadily and progressively.

The CDC estimates that approximately 450,000 people die prematurely in the USA, and more than 8 million Americans are medically disabled by use of tobacco (the consequences of smoking to the lungs, heart, blood vessels, and organs that develop cancer). If you think that is just someone else’s problem (and don’t calculate the economic costs to society) then consider that inhaling other people’s smoke (second-hand smoke) has recently been shown to increase the risk of adult onset diabetes and of impaired mental functioning. It is the tars and byproducts of inhaled tobacco smoke that cause lung damage and serious health consequences. In fact, when nicotine is absorbed but not inhaled (like with patches, gum and nicotine “inhalers” which deliver nicotine through the skin and membranes of the mouth and throat) it is not a dangerous drug, even when used for long periods. (1,2)

Women smoke a little less than men and Asians smoke significantly less than Caucasian, African-Americans and Hispanics (in the US). Native Americans greatly exceed all these groups. But there is one group that blows away the others (hard to resist that pun): people with a mental illness or heavy users of alcohol or drugs. These individuals consume near to half the cigarettes smoked in this country! Among individuals with mental illness or with alcohol and drug problems over 70 percent smoke (compared to about one in five of the general population – whose smoking rates have dropped from 50 percent 50 years ago). About one in two people with depression and anxiety conditions smoke – twice the rate of the general population. Three out of four people with alcohol and drug problems smoke – a rate comparable to people with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Notably, these individuals report a desire to quit at the same rate as do others (70 percent).

There are a number of good reasons to explain the huge disparity in smoking between people with mental and substance use problems and the rest of those who light up. The nicotine in tobacco has been shown to improve mental concentration and can improve mood, especially in depressed individuals. Smoking is well known as a way of coping with stress, and the greater the stress the greater our need to combat it. The pleasure of smoking is no small factor (Freud did get it right when he wrote that the pleasure principle warrants respect), particularly in people whose mental states find it hard to engage in and feel the pleasures of relationships, work and play. What’s more, quitting takes support from friends and families and quit rates are increased by medications prescribed by doctors – both resources that are often limited in people with these conditions. Finally, doctors have not done such a good job of asking about smoking, and offering to help.

The “5 A’s”, from the Public Health Service, Clinical Practice Guideline, are one way doctors and other health care providers are being trained to inquire about smoking and to help their patients:

1. Ask about tobacco use during regular visits
2. Advise the person to quit in a clear and personal manner (like, smoking is the most important thing you can do for your health and for your family)
3. Assess for a willingness to quit. On a scale of 1-10, ask “where are you?” Ask “are you willing to make a commitment to quit in the next 30 days?”
4. Assist in helping someone quit. Set a date for quitting. Offer medication and/or counseling
5. Arrange for the person to return for a visit – soon – in a week, if possible, to support the effort and address relapse, which is common. Congratulate success!

Since some of us have trouble remembering 5 things, a simpler approach is:
- Have you had a puff of a cigarette in the past month?
- If so, do you want to do something about your smoking?

There are various treatments now available to help people quit smoking. Medications include NRT, or nicotine replacement therapy, which comes as a patch, gum, lozenges, inhaler, or nasal spray; some are available over the counter and some require a doctor’s prescription. Buproprion, customarily used as an antidepressant, is effective for people with or without a history of depression and can reduce craving and thus improve quit rates. Varenicline, which seems to work like nicotine does in the brain; it enters the nicotine receptors on neurons, reducing craving and improving quit rates. It is not a good idea to combine Varenicline with NRT agents. All medications have risks and side effects as well as benefits, so be sure to understand both before you start. Counseling may be through individual, group, or telephone format, and focuses on providing encouragement and support from all who can provide it (the doctor, smoking cessation counselor, friends and family) as well as problem solving – or helping people develop skills for those moments they used to rely on a cigarette to master.

Combining medication and counseling adds to the effectiveness of each one, and increases your chances of successfully quitting. For your sake, keep in mind that smoking is one of the hardest addictions to control. What is common is that most people try many times before they finally quit. But don’t lose faith – when the time comes the results are priceless.

It’s easy to say the split killed open-wheel racing.
And it certainly didn’t help.
But I think if you dig down a bit deeper, and you’re really objective about it, you can’t help but conclude that there were a confluence of factors that brought the IndyCar Series to its current state—which is to say, facing a slew of challenges.
One of the big factors is the evaporation of tobacco money that fueled auto racing for so long. The announcement today that Penske Racing will at last abandon Marlboro team colors is a sign that the last of the big tobacco money is going up in smoke.

There was a time that tobacco, beer and motor oil money accounted for more than two-thirds of motorsports sponsorships.

Money from tobacco sponsors kept auto racing rolling at almost every level through its halcyon days. The demographics of both made motorsports and tobacco marketing a near perfect match.

The packed speedways of the 1970s and 1980s were the perfect place to hand out free smokes, snuff, chewing tobacco and bandits alike. And those freebies transferred into sales. The partnership kept sales increasing for tobacco companies and sponsorship dollars rolling in for many race teams, tracks and series.

As odd as it seems, NASCAR—with its roots in the heart of tobacco country—was the first to limit its reliance with a new breed of mass retail type sponsors. Still, it was awfully hard for fendered car operators to say so long to Winston as NASCAR’s biggest series sponsor in 2003.

As late as 2000, North America’s three major racing series were still relatively flush with cash. They were, however, at different stages of realizing the iceberg that lay before them.

In 2000, NASCAR raised $558 million in sponsorship revenue and CART $492 million, compared with Indy Racing League’s $143 million, according to Chicago-based IEG Inc., a leading sports marketing analyst.

The Indy Racing League cast its bet with dot.com companies. In a bold gamble, the series partnered with start-up search engine Northern Light as its title sponsor in an endeavor, that in the end, only yielded a pan full of fool’s gold. Other dot.com sponsors on the series and team level came and went.

The consumer brands that flocked to NASCAR were—and remain—a tough get for the fledgling open-wheel series.

It’s not clear what path CART/Champ Car decided on. And in the end that helped drive a big wooden stake through the series’ heart. Series leaders’ inability to replace the tobacco cash had as much to do with the series’ death as Tony George and his hammer ever did.

Given the series’ relative health a decade ago, CART’s death was the most stark and stunning to watch. CART simply couldn’t or wouldn’t change as the current of commerce shifted.

Not only did government regulation help hasten the end of tobacco’s involvement in racing, but increasing education and a smoke-cessation movement began to eat away at tobacco companies’ sales—and marketing budgets.

In the end, CART/Champ Car fell like a 200-ton dinosaur dealing with a massive climate change.

It’s difficult to believe, 10 short years ago, there was $635 million in sponsorship cash coming into open-wheel racing, almost $60 million more annually than was coming into the good old boys’ fendered series.

Year-by-year, up in smoke it went, burning faster than a forest fire during a 100-years drought.

A plan never emerged to adequately replace lost sponsors. No vision ever materialized to connect the existing auto racing faithful and any emerging audience that might be out there with a new breed of sponsors.

With no bridge built between a new era of sponsors and what is left of open-wheel racing’s consumer audience, a smoldering past is about all some racing observers think we’re left with.

But for now at least, the IndyCar wheels keep turning—with testing underway in Alabama this week and the series ready to kick-off March 14 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Open-wheel’s new boss, Jeff Belskus, is still forming his plan for the future. And his big hire—new IRL President Randy Bernard—is ready to take office March 1.

And where there’s life, hope burns eternal.

The largest individual award to a former Florida smoker against the tobacco industry will not stand, a Broward Circuit judge ruled Friday.
Calling the $300 million jury verdict “excessive” and “shocking,” Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld said he would determine a lower award later against tobacco giant Philip Morris USA. He gave no indication when he would rule.
The landmark verdict was reached in November for Cindy Naugle, an emphysema patient who quit smoking in 1993.
The jury’s decision to award $56.5 million in compensatory damages and $244 million in punitive damages stemmed from anger and went beyond just compensation and punishment, Streitfeld said.
Under state law, judges must reduce jury awards found to be excessive. Streitfeld, who presided over Naugle’s three-week trial, said he would determine a proper reduction based on the evidence.
“I am absolutely persuaded there was a passion in this verdict that resulted in an excessive verdict,” he said.
Streitfeld suggested the case offered “a lesson” for tobacco attorneys, whom he faulted for putting on a “blame the smoker” defense.
“It didn’t work,” he said. “It upset the jury.”
Naugle, sister of former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, testified she could not walk without struggling to breathe and must carry a walkie-talkie to the bathroom in case she needs assistance. The jury assigned Philip Morris 90 percent liability for her medical condition.
Defending the jury’s decision, Miami lawyer Rchard Rosenthal said an award of $12 million for past pain and suffering was “entirely reasonable.”
“They want you to sit as a seventh juror with veto power, and that’s improper,” he told Streitfeld.
Robert Kelley of Kelley/Uustal in Fort Lauderdale represented Naugle at trial. Rosenthal and Joel Perwin, both solo practitioners, argued to uphold the verdict.
Philip Morris attorney Andrew Brenner of Boies Schiller & Flexner in Miami called the award “a grossly excessive outlier.”
The case is among 8,000 pending suits against cigarette manufacturers that were filed after the Florida Supreme Court decertified a statewide class action and invalidated a $145 billion punitive award. The court ruled smokers could sue individually and rely on the original Miami jury’s findings that smoking is dangerous and addictive and causes disease.
Given the vast number of pending complaints, punitive damages in each case should be capped at a sustainable amount, argued tobacco attorney Andrew Frey, a partner at Mayer Brown in New York. He said the Naugle jury improperly assigned $244 million in punitive damages based on the estimated profit earned by Philip Morris during the trial.
“That’s totally arbitrary,” Frey said. “It’s disconnected from the conduct. It’s disconnected from the need for deterrence.”
U.S. courts have struggled to define permissible punitive damages. In its 2003 decision in State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Campbell, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to cap punitive damages at 10 times the compensatory award in most cases. In cases with substantial compensatory damages, the court has suggested the gap should be narrower.
Florida law caps punitive damages at three times compensatory damages, absent extraordinary circumstances.
When asked what multiple of compensatory damages would be proper for Naugle, Frey suggested a ratio “below one-to-one.”
Streitfeld did not say when he would rule but noted he has been considering the matter for months.
“From the moment I read the verdict and took a deep breath, I have considered that verdict and what I should do,” he said.

Customs seized smuggled white and clove cigarettes worth RM6.37 million including tax from a container and two vans recently.
Selangor customs director Datuk Roslan Yusof said inspection on a container on Friday led to the recovery of 9.2 million sticks of white cigarettes worth RM5.95 million.
“The cigarette packs which come with health warning by the Malaysian government did not have tax stamps.
“We have already identified a company director who will be detained soon,” he told a press conference here Wednesday.
Roslan said the container had been declared as carrying a cargo of furniture arrived at North Port on board a Cambodian registered vessel.
In the second case, customs officers chased and stopped two vans at Jalan Ijok-Berjuntai Bestari, Kuala Selangor on Monday.
A check on the vans led to the recovery of 6,060 cartons of clove cigarettes worth RM421,435. The van drivers abandoned the vehicles and fled into a nearby jungle.
The two cases were investigated for importing prohibited items and duty evasion and offenders could face heavy fines.
Roslan said customs also seized liquor worth RM627,426 including tax from a store in Jalan Bukit Rahman Putra, Sg Buloh recently.
He said the land owner had been identified and that he would be hauled up for questioning soon.