Burglars Hit West St. Paul Tobacco Shop Three Times

For the third time in about a month, someone broke into Joseph's Tobacco Sales in West St. Paul. The Wazwaz family says a man drove a truck into the business after hours last Wednesday, breaking in and stealing cigarettes.
the incident was caught on eleven different surveillance cameras. Ken Wazwaz says the man took about 70 cartons of cigarettesworth more than $3,500.
"Cigarettes are very expensive with the taxes and such, they're a hot commodity on the black marget in the area," said Lt. Brian Sturgeon with the West St. Paul Police Department.
Police are trying to track down the man in the video. They want to know if he's the same man who drove a pick-up truck into the same tobacco store in late November, taking cigarettes and leaving a mess.
They don't think the smash and grabs are related to a third break-in at the shop. In that case, several people broke into several businesses in the strip mall through the walls.
The Wazwaz family has owned this shop for two years. Until last month, they had never had a break-in.

New Mich. cigarette law has some smokers fuming

A new state law intended to reduce the fire hazard posed by smoldering cigarettes has frustrated some Michigan smokers, who complain that the safer cigarettes taste foul.
The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires all cigarettes sold in Michigan to be engineered to automatically extinguish when left unattended. To comply, cigarette companies usually add two or three special bands to the cigarettes’ paper that, when lit, reduce the flow of oxygen to the tobacco, thereby slowing the stick’s rate of burn.
If a smoker does not draw on the lit cigarette, the bands effectively smother it.
Ashley May, a 22-year-old smoker from Roseville, told The Detroit News that the fire-safe smokes taste foul and are hard to keep lit.
“I don’t like them,” she said after a drag from a Kool. “You have to constantly puff on them every 30 seconds or else they’re going out. And then when you try to re-light them, they taste horrible.”
Although May and her husband Ed do not like the fire-safe cigarettes, they said they are a good idea if they end up reducing the number of house fires caused by unattended cigarettes.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm approved the law in June, making Michigan the 49th state to pass fire-safe cigarette legislation.
The new cigarettes won’t end all fires started by smoking materials, but they will help lower the numbers of deaths and injuries caused by them, said Ronald Farr, Michigan’s Fire Marshal.
“It’s a life-safety issue,” he said. “That’s the single biggest point for them.”
Fires caused by smoking-related materials in Michigan killed four people last year and injured 33 others, including seven firefighters, according to the state’s Bureau of Fire Services.
Nationwide, fires ignited by cigarettes claimed 780 lives in the United States in 2006, according to the Massachussetts-based National Fire Protection Association.
With Michigan’s new law looming, tobacco retailers such as Joe Odisho, the owner of Smokers’ Planet in Roseville, have heard plenty of complaints about the new cigarettes.
“I’ve had people come in (and) ask if I have a brand without (the fire-safe cigarettes) and then turn around and walk out when I tell them ‘no,”’ he said.
Under the new law, cigarette manufacturers that want to sell their products in the state have to register them with the state’s Bureau of Fire Services. They also must certify that their cigarettes were made with the self-extinguishing technology.
The state will charge cigarette makers a $1,250 fee to register each family brand of their products they want sold in Michigan. The companies will also have to re-certify their products every three years.
The packaging for cigarettes must carry a special mark on them – FSC for Fire Standard Complaint – as well.
Any manufacturer, distributor or retailer who continues to sell unsafe cigarettes after Jan. 1 faces fines of $100 per pack and seizure of the product, according to the law.

Marijuana Use Rises Among Teens; Cigarette Smoking Lowest Since '75

Marijuana use among teenagers increased this year after previous declines, while the use of other illicit drugs like cocaine mostly declined.
According to an annual National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded survey of nearly 47,000 students, almost one-third of 12th-graders and more than one-quarter of 10th-graders reported using marijuana in 2009. Almost 12% of eighth-graders reported marijuana use, an increase from about 11% in 2008.
The survey, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, asked teenagers to report on the use of smoking, alcohol use and drug use, including non-medical uses of prescription painkillers and over-the-counter cold and cough products.
The report showed cigarette smoking was at the lowest point since the survey started in 1975, although the use of smokeless-tobacco products increased on some measures this year.Daily cigarette use by 12th-graders was 11.2%, a slight drop from 11.4% in 2008, while any use during the past 30 days was 20.1%, also a slight decline from 2008. Smokeless-tobacco use during the past 30 days in 2009 was reported by 8.4% of students in 12th grade, up from 6.5% in 2008.
Researchers said one of the reasons smoking rates have declined is that the percentage of students who reported ever trying smoking has "fallen dramatically." For example in 1996, 49% of eighth-graders reported trying cigarettes, compared with 20% this year.
Alcohol use stayed about the same last year, with more than half of 10th-graders and about two-thirds of seniors reporting alcohol use in the past year.
The survey showed past-year use of cocaine decreased to 3.4% from 4.4% in 2008 among 12th-graders, along with declines in the use of hallucinogens and methamphetamine.
The use of over-the-counter cold and cough medicines to get high, however, edged up among all age groups, with 6% of 10th-graders reporting non-medical use of the products last year.
The annual survey also found continuing high rates of prescription-drug abuse, with almost 10% of 12th-graders reporting non-medical use of the painkiller Vicodin last year, the same rate as 2008. Almost 5% of high-school seniors reported using OxyContin for a non-medical use in 2009, a slight uptick from 2008.
Researchers said 66% of teens reported obtaining the prescription drugs from a friend or relative, while 19% said they received the drugs with a doctor's prescription, and 8% said they bought the drugs from a dealer.

Teens smoking more pot, less tobacco

Cigarette smoking is out but pot use is in among the nation's teenagers, who also report a higher use of prescription painkillers and a waning perception about the risk of illicit drugs, a federal study on students has found.
As more states move to approve medical marijuana, and pot legalization and decriminalization become more mainstream in the national discussion, teens seem more accepting of pot use, according to a study released Monday by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The national survey, "Monitoring the Future," was conducted by the University of Michigan and queried 47,097 students in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades.
It found that one-fifth of seniors - 20.6 percent - reported using marijuana in the previous month, up from 18.3 percent in 2006. High school sophomores' pot smoking rose from 13.8 percent in 2008 to 15.9 percent this year, statistics that researchers said should capture the nation's attention.
"So far, we have not seen any dramatic rise in marijuana use, but the upward trending of the past two or three years stands in stark contrast to the steady decline that preceded it for nearly a decade," said Lloyd Johnston, who serves as principal investigator on the Michigan study, which has tracked teen drug use since 1975.
"Not only is use rising, but a key belief about the degree of risk associated with marijuana use has been in decline among young people even longer, and the degree to which teens disapprove of use of the drug has recently begun to decline," Mr. Johnston said. "Changes in these beliefs and attitudes are often very influential in driving changes in use."
Judy Kreamer, president of Educating Voices Inc., a nonprofit drug-education and drug-prevention organization in Naperville, Ill., called the survey results "very disturbing" but said they come as no surprise given the messages that advocates have sent youths in recent years.
"Today, if you watch television or listen to the radio, you cannot help but hear people laugh and tell jokes about marijuana," she said. "There is a lot of information out there that it's just a medicine and isn't as bad as alcohol. We have to straighten that misinformation out - for our children's sake.
"I want people to understand that marijuana is a harmful drug, and we have to keep our children safe. It's our responsibility, and part of that requires that we educate ourselves about the harms associated with marijuana and that we then impart those concerns to our young people so that they understand."
Among the study's bright spots: Methamphetamine use, binge drinking and cigarette smoking have declined.
The number of eighth-graders who reported smoking within the past month dropped from 19.4 percent in 1997 to 6.5 percent this year. Twelfth-grader smoking also dipped, from 36.5 percent in 1997 to 20.1 percent in 2009, marking the "lowest point in the history of the survey on all measures," among all grades surveyed, researchers said.
Cocaine use was also on the decline, with use among seniors falling from 4.4 percent in 2008 to 3.4 percent in 2009.
Seniors also registered an attitude shift on the perceived harmfulness of hallucinogens such as LSD, along with amphetamines, sedatives/barbiturates and heroin, and there was a heightened perception that drug availability was declining.
"These latest data confirm that we must redouble our efforts to implement a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to preventing and treating drug use," said Gil Kerlikowske, who heads the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
"Continued erosion in youth attitudes and behavior toward substance abuse should give pause to all parents and policymakers," Mr. Kerlikowske said Monday as results from the study were released at the National Press Club in Washington.
The University of Michigan researchers noted that the percentage of teens using any illicit drug is up in 2009 over the past two years, but that the proportion of the students who reported using any drug other than pot is declining for those in the eighth and 12th grades.
The investigators said they remained concerned, however, that the perceived risk of using such drugs as Ecstasy, LSD and other inhalants has fallen, even as their reported use among teens has dropped.
"Given the glamorous name and reputation of [Ecstasy], I could easily imagine it making a comeback as younger children entering their teens become increasingly unaware of its risks," Mr. Johnston said.
"While LSD use is at historically low levels at present, the proportion of students seeing its use as dangerous has been in decline for a long time (although it did not decline further this year in two of the three grades), removing a major obstacle to experimentation. We have seen LSD make a comeback before. Clearly, it could happen again," he said.

Cigarette burns mattress in Rochester home

Some Rochester residents should consider themselves very lucky after a dropped cigarette started a mattress fire early Tuesday morning.
The Rochester Fire Department says it received a 911 call around 5:20 a.m. and when firefighters arrived at the home on 10 1/2 Street Southeast, they found a smoldering mattress.
The owner tried to put the flames out with a fire extinguisher, but the cotton and other textiles used in the padding made it hard to put out.
No one was hurt, but there were no working smoke detectors in the home.
"This was a very dangerous situation," says Battalion Chief Steven Belau of the Rochester Fire Department. "If it had happened earlier in the night, the outcome almost certainly would have been tragically different. The occupants of this house were extremely lucky that someone was awake and smelled the smoke from the fire. Cigarettes in bed and no operating smoke detectors where people sleep are a deadly combination."
Damage estimates are around $350.

CEPS Destroys 330,000 Cartons Of Cigarettes

The Northern Sector Command of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS) on Saturday destroyed 330,000 cartons of seized cigarettes.
The cigarettes which were of different brands were destroyed because they were either smuggled goods or did not have the health warning: "Cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health".
Mr. Ernest Frimpong-Nuamah, the Sector Commander led a team of CEPs personnel and officials of the Foods and Drugs Board and the Environmental Protection Agency to witness the destruction of the items.
Mr. William Annan, Principal Collector and Preventive Officer of CEPS said the destruction of the items was to serve as a deterrent to others who may be anticipating smuggling goods into the country without passing through the necessary procedures.

Tobacco company gives to GOP funds

Once again, the tobacco industry is weighing in on the side of Republicans in Oregon legislative races. New disclosure reports show that Philip Morris, one of the industry giants, gave $13,500 each to the House and Senate GOP caucus funds.
While this is not game-changing money, it's bigger than your typical corporate contributiion to a legislative committee.
The company did give $1,000 to a Democratic legislator, Rep. Terry Beyer of Springfield. But if you scroll down this list of contributions from the 2008 campiagn, you'll see the company sides almost exclusively with Republicans.
Democrats earned the industry's enmity by pushing through a tough indoor smoking ban in the 2007 Legislature as well as a big tobacco tax increase that voters later rejected.