WV still struggles with smoking rates

As more West Virginia officials start to take a closer look at health care costs, many are taking a closer look at the contributing factors.

Kanawha-Charleston Chief health officer Dr. Rahul Gupta was a guest on this week's edition of The State Journal's Decision Makers to talk about the high numbers of smokers in the state.

West Virginians continue to lead the nation in the number of smokers. 26 percent of the state's population, 22 percent of high schoolers and 11 percent of middle schoolers are lighting up.

"The tobacco companies know that if you get them hooked early, and get them hooked well, they will smoke through their lifetime," Gupta said.

Gupta said people who smoke lose an average of 14 years from their life span.

And West Virginia's tobacco tax, at 55 cents per pack, continues to be one of the nation's lowest. Gupta said in New York City, youth smoking rates have gone from 17 percent to 8 percent in the past 10 years, and he said it's in part because of high tax rates.

Gupta said smoking has been a part of the culture for hundreds of years and it would take a multi-faceted approach to cutting smoking numbers.

"We have to fully fund programs at state and community levels," he said.

Gupta also said a strong counter-marketing campaign needs to be waged, along with strong second-hand smoke prevention policies, such as the one already in place in Kanawha County that bans smoking in any public area.

Gupta also said cessation programs need to get more serious.

"It bothers me as a physician that people, when they want to quit, we are not able to provide them help as a system," he said. "Whether it's the doctors, hospitals, the insurers, the insurance companies ... we have lifetime limits, we will give them gum, but we won't give them pills; we won't give them counseling.

"We play games with our folks who want to smoke, and then we put a stigma on them, so these are things that we could do in a nutshell in a large picture, that actually will help West Virginia move forward."

Gupta said smoking at work takes several victims, as well, because it hurts the employer in terms of productivity time lost.

"There is no reason we can't have smoke-free workplaces," he said. "It would help cut that cycle where the body requires that substance put in every so hours."

Smoking ban issue again before Springfield City Council

Springfield’s much-debated smoking ban is likely to be the focus of tonight’s City Council meeting.

Approved by voters in April after a successful petition drive, the ordinance has been challenged by opponents who say it is overly restrictive.

They’ve submitted their own petition, signed by more than 2,100 city voters, that would effectively repeal the April ban. According to the city charter, council must vote tonight either to approve the repeal or send the question to voters in June.

Council members on Thursday appeared inclined to send the repeal to a public vote. But they said they also will attempt to pass a series of amendments in April to add exemptions for electronic cigarettes, tobacco stores and possibly others to the current ban.

In other action tonight, council will:

Hold a public hearing on a request to rezone five acres on East Republic Road, north of the Ravenwood subdivision. Council voted down an earlier rezoning request tied to a planned hotel development at the site. The new attempt does not include specific development plans, but some neighbors have said they don’t think a proposed 46-foot height limit is low enough.

Vote on an ordinance allowing beer and light wines to be served and consumed outside in the Park Central Square area at up to five events a year. Events — a jazz festival, charity concert and Route 66 car show are among the possibilities discussed so far — would be limited to no more than three days and would require advance approval from the city manager and local law enforcement.

Hold a hearing and vote on an emergency bill approving a $111,507 settlement from a roofing contractor whose failure to secure the Commercial Club Building during bad weather led to water damage inside. The settlement, which includes money from the company and its insurer, will fully reimburse the amount the city paid to repair the building.

Vote on a memorandum of understanding with City Utilities and BNSF railroad to share the estimated $180,000 cost of an environmental investigation along North Main Avenue near Jordan Creek. The city needs to find out if the area — once home to facilities where manufactured gas was created — is contaminated before it can move ahead with plans to rehabilitate the creek channel.

Vote on a cooperative agreement between the city, Greene County and Larino Properties LLC regarding public improvements at the Hickory Hills Marketplace development. The city is not responsible for funding any improvements mentioned in the agreement, but has some oversight along with the county, which is issuing bonds to help fund the improvements.

Smoking ban 'is improving health'

Scotland is continuing to gain the health benefits from the smoking ban introduced exactly six years ago, according to an anti-smoking charity.

Legislation outlawing smoking in enclosed public places, such as pubs, restaurants and almost all workplaces, came into force in Scotland on March 26, 2006.

The law was introduced to protect people from the health risks of passive smoking, and is enforced by local environmental health officers, who have the power to enter all no-smoking premises to make sure the law is being complied with.

Ash Scotland said the ban has proved popular among smokers and non-smokers with 83% of adults supporting it, including almost half of adult smokers. The charity also said health figures, such as a reduction in the rate of child asthma admissions by 18% per year since the ban, support its implementation.

There has also been a fall from 25.4% pre-ban to 18.8% in the number of mothers who smoke, according to research.


Ash Scotland chief executive Sheila Duffy said: "Six years on we can clearly see how Scotland's smoke-free law is benefiting people. That law was opposed by the tobacco industry who sought to delay and derail it, much as they are doing with current legislation.

"Tobacco smoke is a toxic substance and poses a threat to health, particularly to children's health. We need to continue to strive for people's right to breathe clean air."

Earlier this month a study showed that complications in pregnancy have fallen as a result of the ban. Researchers found there had been a decrease in the number of babies being born before they reached full term and a reduction in the number of infants being born underweight.

The research team, led by Professor Jill Pell of the University of Glasgow's Institute of Health and Wellbeing, looked at more than 700,000 single-baby births before and after the introduction of the ban.

Dr Pell said: "These reductions occurred both in mothers who smoked and those who had never smoked. While survival rates for pre-term deliveries have improved over the years, infants are still at risk of developing long-term health problems so any intervention that can reduce the risk of pre-term delivery has the potential to produce important public health benefits."

Two jailed for counterfeit cigarette smuggling scam

Unbeknown to the defendants HMRC criminal investigators were aware of their elaborate plans and were watching as a consignment of 5.3 million counterfeit cigarettes were delivered to an industrial unit in Leicester in July 2009.

Paul Barton, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said:

"This was organised crime on an industrial scale. Their plans were extremely well engineered in their bid to saturate the Midlands with illicit cigarettes - most of which were counterfeit. This was all about lining their own pockets and they had no regard to the potential harm such criminal activity causes to individuals, communities and legitimate businesses."

Background

London based defendants Andreas Apostolides and Costas Georgiou, were the masterminds behind the conspiracy. They formed a company called Bellgate in 2002 and a further company called Orion in 2009. These companies were used to front the smuggling operation in an attempt to present themselves as legitimate importers, mainly of dried pasta from Greece and stoneware from China. They were found guilty of conspiracy to evade duty through smuggling four separate consignments of counterfeit cigarettes which had been seized by HMRC officers including:

July 2009 - a consignment of nearly 5.3 million counterfeit Regal cigarettes, seized from a unit at Rosswalk Industrial Business Park, Leicester. March 2009 - a consignment concealing around 7.5 million counterfeit cigarettes branded as Gold Classic destined for Saltley, Birmingham. The container was hijacked in an armed raid from the gates of the Birmingham trading estate but was seized later that day by West Midlands Police attending a separate offence at a unit in Small Heath, Birmingham. March 2009 - a consignment concealing nearly 7 million illicit Racquel cigarettes, destined for Saltley, Birmingham, was seized at Tilbury docks. September 2008 - a consignment concealing around 4 million counterfeit cigarettes of various brands was seized in Tipton, West Midlands. Three men from the West Midlands pleaded guilty to tobacco smuggling offences relating to this seizure and were sentenced in March 2010.

New bill may cause tax-hike on cigarettes

The latest bill would raise the state’s cigarette tax from 17 cents per pack to a dollar and 9-and-a-half cents per pack.

But it would also rise or fall based on the national average cigarette tax – and it would require a statewide voter referendum. It’s sponsored by Democrat Jeanette Mott Oxford of St. Louis:

“I can’t see how in the world it would hurt business in any way in this state…what it would do is it would mean a lot of children stop smoking, and what it would do is it would mean that a lot of pregnant women stop smoking, because that’s been the experience in other states.”

Other bills to raise the state’s cigarette tax have been filed by lawmakers from both parties. But most GOP leaders and Democratic Governor Jay Nixon remain opposed to any tax hike.

Some lawmakers unhappy, owners confused about new measure

Indiana’s new statewide smoke-free law exempts bars from the smoking ban, but anyone who lights up inside a bar at a bowling alley will be violating the law.

Meanwhile, the new law bans smoking in restaurants, but patrons of restaurants on casino properties can light up all they want.

And while the new law carries a penalty for smoking in a smoke-free zone, it created no new funding to enforce the law.

Indiana lawmakers wrangled for years over a statewide smoking ban before finally passing a piece of legislation laden with exemptions and laced with some holes.

Now it’s up to other people to figure out how to enforce it.

“The problem with this smoking ban bill is that it’s like having a peeing section in a pool,” said Rep. Peggy Welch, a co-author of the original bill that was tougher. “It just doesn’t work.”

Welch, a Bloomington Democrat, joins a chorus of critics who say the law is flawed.

Some are public health advocates who don’t like the carve-outs for casinos, bars and private clubs because workers at those establishments won’t be protected from secondhand smoke.

Other critics say it’s unfair to the businesses not exempted. And some just say it’s confusing.

An example: The new law has an exemption for bars. But when the law goes into effect July 1, Jerry Hindel will be required to ban smoking in the bar adjacent to his no-smoking bowling alley in Indianapolis.

“So my customers can’t smoke, but they can go across the street to a tavern and smoke,” said Hindel, who handles legislative issues for the Indiana Bowling Centers Association. “It’s not a very level playing field as far as we’re concerned.”

There’s no mention of bowling alley bars in the bill. But the bar exemption has its own exemptions, including one that excludes bars that are “located in a business that would otherwise be subject to this chapter.”

That’s why bars in bowling alleys, taverns with adjacent family rooms, and bars inside of restaurants will have to go smoke-free.

The Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission is charged with enforcing the law. The commission staff is working out details of how they’ll do that. They’ll be posting “frequently asked questions,” with answers, on the commission website before the July 1 start of the new law.

They’re counting on some self-enforcement and hoping for more people like restaurant owner Allen Clark. He’s snuffing out smoking at the Lighthouse Restaurant and Lounge in Jeffersonville on April 1, two months before the law goes into effect.

Clark said the early prohibition is voluntary. “Even our smokers say it’s too smoky in here,” Clark said. “It’s time for a change.”

The new law requires “public places” like restaurants to prominently post signs that say “Smoking Is Prohibited By State Law.” It requires those restaurant owners – and anyone else in charge of a public gathering place – to “cause to be removed” anyone violating the smoking ban who refuses to quit when asked.

Those rules don’t apply to dining venues at casino and racino properties in Indiana. The Indiana Gaming Industry successfully lobbied for language that not only exempts a “facility that operates under a gambling game license” but also any other adjacent “permanent structure on land owned or leased” by the casino owner.

What that means, according Alcohol and Tobacco Commission spokesman Travis Thickstun: “Restaurants at casinos are exempt.”

The people who manage Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (formerly known as Conseco Fieldhouse) thought the “smoking terraces” at their facility would be exempt from the law’s prohibition on smoking 8 feet from a public entrance.

Located on the club level of the fieldhouse where the Indiana Pacers play, the open-air terraces are frequented by smokers who don’t want to miss the game.

Greg Schenkel, a spokesman the fieldhouse management team, said he thought the 8-feet rule only applied to fieldhouse’s street-level entrances. Not so. Thickstun said the law applies to those terrace doors as well. It’s up to fieldhouse management to enforce that. If they don’t, they’re violating the law.

It’s costly if you’re caught breaking the law. It’s a class B infraction, with up to a $1,000 fine, for first-time offenders. Repeat offenders, with three unrelated violations, can face up to a $10,000 fine.

The ATC is still trying to figure out some enforcement issues. Indiana State Health Commissioner Gregory Larkin, who’s working with the ATC, has said there won’t be any “smoking police” sent out to enforce the law.

He said it will mostly be left up to citizens to report violations of the new smoking ban. The ATC is still figuring out how that reporting process will work, where those complaints will be directed, and how those complaints will be responded to. While the law requires the ATC to enforce the smoking ban, it only has 86 excise police officers on staff to cover 92 counties.

It’s not uncommon for states to struggle with their smoking bans. Illinois had to revise its smoking ban after the state found some prosecutors weren’t enforcing it. In Ohio, millions of dollars in fines levied on businesses that violated its smoking ban have gone unpaid. After Michigan passed its ban, it granted limited immunity to bowling alleys hit with “slip and fall” lawsuits from slippery shoed bowlers who slipped and fell when they stepped outside for a smoke.

The co-authors of the Indiana ban, including Welch, already have their sights on revamping the bill. “When we come back for the 2013 session, we’ll have a lot more answers to the questions that will arise as people start to implement the law,” Welch said. “It’s rare that we get things right the first time.”

'Britons' arrested in Dutch illegal cigarettes bust

Dutch police have arrested four suspects, three of them thought to be British, and seized more than seven million cigarettes destined to be sold illegally in the country, the anti-fraud agency said Friday.
"The cigarettes were found in a warehouse in Harderwijk," Charlotte Slagter, a spokeswoman for the Dutch fiscal intelligence and economic investigation service, told AFP. Slagter could not say where the cigarettes originated from.
The cigarettes' sale would have evaded about 1.4 million euros ($1.8 million) in excise duty due to the Dutch state, the spokeswoman added.
Three of the arrested suspects are believed to be British, while the fourth is a local man from the Harderwijk area, Slagter said.

Senate passes measure restricting "roll-your-own" cigarette operations

Idaho lawmakers have passed a bill restricting "roll-your-own" cigarette operations that they fear could jeopardize state settlements with tobacco companies.

The Senate voted 30-3 to pass the legislation, which would enact a strict permitting process for the swelling industry of ATM-sized machines that cost up to $35,000 and can spit out hundreds of cigarettes in minutes.

She says the "roll-your-own" operations can circumvent state tobacco laws, jeopardizing settlement payments from big tobacco worth approximately $25 million annually.

The bill awaits Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's approval.

Manufacturers of the machines have been targeted nationwide for getting around pricier cigarette taxes by offering patrons cheaper pipe tobacco to roll their own smokes on site.

The machines haven't emerged in Idaho yet.

But Huston Sen. Patti Lodge says the state should be proactive. She says the "roll-your-own" operations can circumvent state tobacco laws, jeopardizing settlement payments from big tobacco worth approximately $25 million annually.

Protesters picket key tobacco show in Philippines

Hundreds of anti-smoking advocates on Thursday picketed a large international tobacco fair in the Philippines, a country that has drawn more attention from the industry as Western nations pile on restrictions and taxes.

A pack of cigarettes costs only about 50 cents here, and nearly one out of every three Filipinos 15 years or older smokes, according to a survey cited by the World Health Organization. The government supports legislation aimed at discouraging smoking with a new tax, but it is also trying to ramp up foreign investment to fight rampant poverty and unemployment.

Organizers of the tobacco exhibits, among the largest in the world, said city authorities waived an indoor smoking ban for delegates. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III sent a welcome message with hopes the meeting would benefit the country's economy.

One of the protest leaders, Roberto del Rosario, said the government should not have allowed the trade fair to go on.

"This business kills people," said del Rosario, president of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance-Philippines.

WHO also criticized the gathering that opened in Manila on Thursday, saying it provides a platform for the industry to promote "a deadly product in the Philippines and throughout Asia."

Media were barred from the trade exhibits; organizers said the shows were "strictly industry-only private meetings."

They said the Philippines was chosen as a venue "after months of in-depth research locations ... for a number of compelling reasons." It provides opportunities for tobacco and cigarette producers to meet suppliers of raw materials such as leaf, paper, filters and manufacturing equipment.

Dr. Shin Young-soo, WHO director for the Western Pacific, said the Philippines' hosting of the event runs counter to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which it signed. The convention requires signatories to completely ban tobacco promotion, advertising and sponsorship.

The Philippines has among Asia's highest smoking rates, and among the lowest prices for tobacco products. A pack of cigarettes costs about $1 in Laos, $3 in Malaysia, $6 in Hong Kong and $9 in Singapore.

Two former finance and two ex-health secretaries issued a statement saying that young people and the poor are encouraged to smoke and drink because cigarette and alcohol prices in the Philippines are so low.

Proponents of the proposed tax measure, which is being pushed by the health and finance departments, say it will correct the current tobacco tax structure, which favors one company that controls over 90 percent of the market, and which lacks a system to adjust the rates to inflation. The bill is still pending in Congress.

The dominant tobacco company, PMFTC Inc., is owned by Philip Morris International Inc., which bought local Fortune Tobacco Corp. in 2010.

PMFTC President Chris Nelson said the proposed taxes are "unreasonable."

"Our message is: We are here for employment, we are here for growth prospects for alcohol and tobacco and therefore, I think, obviously ... you should have reasonable and realistic (tax) increases," he said.

Despite the proposed higher taxes, he said he is upbeat about prospects for the industry in the Philippines as more farmers return to tobacco-growing.

Local residents go tobacco-free, win awards

Healthy Androscoggin’s 13th annual Quit and Win celebration was held at Marco’s Italian Restaurant recently. More than 30 participants, helpers and family members gathered to celebrate their success in taking the first step in living tobacco-free.

Healthy Androscoggin staff, coalition volunteers, coalition board members and program sponsors were on hand to congratulate those who had stopped using tobacco with the program. Participants were invited to register for prize drawings, which included gifts donated by local businesses. The grand prizes included cash awards for program participants and their helpers.

Wendy Tardif, executive director of the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing, spoke and helped award prizes. Tardif shared her tobacco cessation journey as well as the lessons she has learned along the way.

Cash prize winners were Meaghaan Tolman of Auburn, $250; Karen Ferguson of Turner, $100; Diane Atwood of Auburn, $100; Henry Gagnon of New Gloucester, $100; Larry Greene of Lewiston, $50; and Terry Sandborn of Turner, $25. The $200 bonus award for calling the Maine Tobacco Helpline went to Karen Ferguson of Turner.

While only a small number of participants and helpers won the cash prizes, Steven Johndro, executive director, congratulated all on becoming tobacco-free and said the celebration was to celebrate their accomplishments in becoming tobacco-free.

Johndro added that although Quit and Win has concluded for this year, Healthy Androscoggin stands ready to help individuals and organizations who are ready to go tobacco-free.

Healthy Androscoggin recognized corporate sponsors and thanked them for their support.

Boulder DA asks feds to back off on medical marijuana dispensaries

Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett has sent a letter to the top federal prosecutor in Colorado, asking the feds to drop their crack-down on medical-marijuana dispensaries that are abiding by state law.
In the letter, dated Tuesday, Garnett writes that Colorado has created a system for regulating medical-marijuana businesses that is working and argues it is not worth the federal government's time to target dispensaries abiding by state law.
"I can see no legitimate basis in this judicial district to focus the resources of the United States government on the medical marijuana dispensaries that are otherwise compliant with Colorado law or local regulation," Garnett wrote in the letter to Colorado U.S. Attorney John Walsh. "The people of Boulder County do not need Washington D.C. or the federal government dictating how far dispensaries should be from schools, or other fine points of local land-use law."
Garnett's letter comes following the most direct crack-down yet in Colorado on dispensaries by federal law enforcement officials. Earlier this year, Walsh sent letters to 23 medical-marijuana dispensaries that were within 1,000 feet of a school, ordering them to close or face civil or criminal punishment. All those ordered to do so shut their doors.
Colorado law establishes a 1,000-foot buffer between dispensaries and schools but also allows communities to vary the distance or grandfather in pre-existing businesses. All the dispensaries that received letters were apparently complying with state and local laws.
But federal law makes all marijuana possession and sales illegal. Drug sales within 1,000 feet of a school bring enhanced penalties. Walsh said he sent the letters because he's concerned that the presence of medical-marijuana businesses near schools may be encouraging the increase the state is seeing in youth use of marijuana.
Walsh has said more letters to other dispensaries near schools are possible.
In his letter, Garnett said federal law enforcement officials should instead focus elsewhere: on terrorism, organized crime or major trafficking of hard drugs like cocaine or methamphetamine. Continuing to target dispensaries, Garnett wrote, "would be very disruptive to communities who have spent significant time and resources exercising their right of local control to balance the competing issues around medical marijuana."

Hookah joint bouncers bash up BBMP men during raid

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's (BBMP) health officials were reportedly assaulted by bouncers of an outlet when they went to seize the hookah being smoked there, on Wednesday.

On a tip-off, the officials turned up at the joint near Urvashi theare on Lalbagh Road to search the premises. However, the bouncers refused to let them in and a scuffle ensued in which the BBMP officials, including M.N. Lokesh, Health Officer (South), were allegedly roughed up by them.

Sources said that the company that owns the outlet — Puzzles Mud Plus — objected to the inspection saying the BBMP officials did not have a court order. Nevertheless, the BBMP officials managed to seize the 18 hookahs allegedly found there, sources said.

The health officials had lodged a complaint with the Silver Jubilee Park police station against Kamal Jain, the owner of the outlet, for obstructing government officials from discharging their duties. He and his son have been arrested.

JOINT RAIDS

Meanwhile, to avert such situations, BBMP officials plan to raid hookah joints jointly with the Central Crime Branch.

The officials, including Commissioner M.K. Shankarlinge Gowda and Zonal Joint Commissioners, are likely to meet Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Krishnamraju to discuss the logistics.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Yediyur councillor N.R. Ramesh told The Hindu there were nearly 415 hookah joints across the city. The BBMP Council had resolved to close them in the interest of public health.

The then Commissioner Siddaiah had written to City Police Commissioner to provide security to the BBMP officials when they raided these joints.

New no-smoking rule begins Wednesday in North Myrtle Beach

If you're a smoker, be prepared for changes today when the new no-smoking ordinance becomes law in North Myrtle Beach.
Here's what smokers and business owners need to know to avoid being burned by the new "Smoking in Public Places" rule.
It bans:
Smoking in restaurants, bars, public places, work places and some outdoor facilities.
Smoking in public transportation vehicles.
Smoking in hotel and motel common areas, enclosed hallways, enclosed construction sites
Smoking at ballparks, athletic fields and other sporting/athletic venues when in use for athletic competitions or public performances. Smoking will be allowed in parks only in designated areas.
It allows:
Smoking outdoors if at a distance from any door, window or ventilation system to prevent smoke from entering a building.
Smoking in campground spaces, hotel and motel rooms, or structures owned or rented as time shares .It does not apply to retail tobacco stores, which includes existing cigar bars.
Fines:
Anyone who violates the ordinance can be fined $100. Business owners or employers of public places who fail to comply can be fined no more than $100 for the first violation, no more than $200 for a second violation, and no more than $500 for each additional violation within one year.

Ind. smoking ban, resisting police bills unsettled

Indiana lawmakers have just a few days left in this year's debates on whether there should be a statewide smoking ban and when residents might be legally justified in using force against police officers.
Those are a couple of the prominent issues that remain undecided ahead of Friday's planned adjournment of the 2012 legislative session.

A House-Senate conference committee was set to have a public meeting Wednesday on the bill reacting to the to a public uproar over a state Supreme Court ruling last year that residents didn't have the right to resist police officers even during an illegal entry. Law enforcement groups have said they're worried the measure could spark more violence against police.

Legislators also are still talking about whether bars should be exempted from the smoking ban.

Medical marijuana dispensary denied

A medical marijuana dispensary won’t be allowed in Oceano after the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors unanimously upheld an appeal of its permit Tuesday.
Supervisors found the location violated the required 1,000-foot minimum distance from a park and the dispensary would be detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the residential neighborhood.
Last fall, Tammy Murray, director and chief executive officer of Compassionate Cannabis Information Center, was granted a permit by the Planning Commission to operate a dispensary in the 1400 block of South Fourth Street.
That decision was appealed by Oceano resident Barbara Mann.
Sheriff Ian Parkinson told the board Murray is “trying to do right” and had gone “above and beyond” to create a dispensary that would meet state guidelines and operate in a safe manner.
But he was concerned about homes behind and adjacent to the site.
“I’ve got to protect the rights of the people here in this county over businesses,” Parkinson said.
Testimony from neighbors and non-neighbors was roughly split for and against the dispensary at Tuesday’s hearing.
Opponents said the money and marijuana at the dispensary would attract criminals bent on robbing the facility or its clients.
They also expressed concern about traffic and for the children that congregate in the area, even meeting the ice cream vendor directly in front of the proposed dispensary.
Proponents said the dispensary would not attract a criminal element, clients would not be a threat to children and the dispensary is essential to those who need medical marijuana.
Supervisors Adam Hill said he was “greatly conflicted” about the dispensary, but said if he erred, it would be on the side of caution.
“I’m sitting on the same fence as Mr. Hill, and in the end, I’ll probably fall off on the same side — and I’m sorry to say that,” said Supervisor Bruce Gibson.
Although they said they don’t object to medical marijuana, supervisors Paul Teixeira, Frank Mecham and James agreed the dispensary violated the distance ordinance and would be incompatible with the neighborhood.

Brenner wants Attorney General’s opinion on hookah lounge

After giving Ifrit’s Hookah Lounge an ultimatum to come into compliance with a public smoking ban by Sunday, Pennington County State’s Attorney Glenn Brenner has lifted that order and will instead ask for Attorney General Marty Jackley’s opinion.
“It’s not my job to stop somebody from making a living,” Brenner said.
And, while Brenner waits for Jackley’s opinion, police will not be enforcing the smoking ban, Rapid City Police Chief Steve Allender said.
“It appears that he (Brenner) is trying to work out a resolution with Ifrit’s attorney, so we’re on standby waiting for direction from his office,” Allender said.
Mayor Sam Kooiker, however, believes the business at 725 St. Joseph St. is operating against the law.
“We have the synthetic Pied Piper operating in downtown Rapid City, and they don’t show any signs of letting up, and it’s time for the city to address the problem,” Kooiker said.
Last week the city council voted 10-0 to deny the transfers of Ifrit’s beer and wine licenses to a new corporation, although the request for the transfer was withdrawn.
The council’s action came shortly after Ifrit’s corporate attorney, Stephen Wesolick, said his clients were withdrawing the request at the Feb. 22 council meeting. Ifrit’s is operating with previously granted licenses and can continue to do so until they come up for renewal later this year.
Kooiker said the recent seizure of synthetic drugs at Ifrit’s by the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team on Jan. 19 also contributed to the council’s decision.
The council was well within its rights to consider the totality of the circumstances surrounding the business and act, the mayor said.
“There were issues relating to underage drinking over the holidays, and there also is the issue relating to synthetic drugs,” said Kooiker.
Kooiker also provided the council with copies of correspondence from Brenner and Police Chief Steve Allender raising questions about the business’ suitability.
Allender notified Ifrit’s in early February that he would advise the council not to transfer the businesses beer and wine licenses because of the UNET investigation and an alleged underage drinking incident.
Brenner notified Kooiker in a Feb. 13 letter that he had asked Ifrit’s to comply with the smoking ban. He also referred to the UNET investigation into the sale of synthetic drugs and the alcohol violation.
Brian Winckel, a co-owner of Ifrit’s, was charged with a misdemeanor for maintaining a place to violate beverage laws in late January. Winckel has not been arraigned on the charge, said John Murphy, Winckel’s attorney.
The accusation is related to a New Year’s Eve event at Ifrit’s where a promoter snapped a photo of two underage women holding a champagne bottle and posted it on Facebook, according to Murphy.
The promoter of the party, Kelly Phillips, is charged with providing alcohol to someone under 21, Murphy said. The women were 19- and 20-years-old, he said.
Murphy and Wesolick stressed that no charges have been filed against their clients related to synthetic drugs in the six weeks since UNET seized items at Ifrit’s.
“No bath salts were removed,” Murphy said. “They did not sell bath salts…Nothing else has happened in regard to alleged synthetic marijuana or incense charges.”
Both Murphy and Wesolick said the city council has judged their clients without waiting for the outcome of any legal actions.
“Let’s not try these guys in public,” Wesolick said.
Winckel and Desmond are entitled to due process, he said.
“The action by the council was not only unnecessary, but designed to put my clients in a position of having to defend themselves in public,” Wesolick said.
The allegations the council used as a reason to deny the license transfers are unsubstantiated, he emphasized.
“It’s an unwarranted abuse of their discretion on the license,” Wesolick said.
Wesolick and Murphy compare the treatment Ifrit’s received from the city council with the council’s response to accusations of fraud at the landfill levied against Fish Garbage Service in 2009.
In that case, the council refused to renew the company’s commercial haulers license on the basis of the accusations.
None of the six individuals charged in the resulting criminal cases was ever convicted. A civil suit is still ongoing in the case.
Murphy said the city appears determined to send a message that it will run a business into ground based upon a mere allegation, before letting the judicial process go forward or the facts are established.
“The city and the county spent hundreds of thousands on Fish Garbage and not a single conviction,” Murphy said. “Here they’re doing the same thing over again…Who’s next.”
Kooiker said he stands firm on his belief that Ifrit’s has sold synthetic drugs. He also dismisses comparing the case to the Fish Garbage case.
“They were selling synthetic drugs over the counter,” Kooiker said.
There are two “big rain clouds” ahead for the hookah lounge, according to Kooiker.
Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s recent signing of the synthetic drug law and Brenner’s focus on the smoking ban.
“If Hookah’s want to dump their drugs at the landfill for free, I’m sure that can be arranged under the manure classification; it would probably fit under the classification of manure,” Kooiker said.
At last week’s council meeting, Kooiker mentioned stopping in at Ifrit’s during a police ride-along in December.
“I came out smelling like a cranberry,” Kooiker said at the council meeting before advising Wesolick that his client’s should seek another line of work.
In the meantime, Brenner has agreed to ask Jackley to examine whether smoking shishah tobacco violates the state’s smoking ban.

Cigar Bar clears first hurdle to serve beer

An amendment to Nolensville’s beer ordinance that could allow a business to derive revenue from a source other than food and still serve brews on premise is moving forward.

On Thursday night, the Nolensville Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved the first reading of an ordinance brought about by a new business known as the Cigar Bar.

The wording of the measure dictates that smoke shops and cigar bars can get 65 percent of their revenue from the sale of cigars with 35 percent coming from beer sales. If they exceed their allotted alcohol sales, the town’s Beer Board can pull their beer permit. The board will demand quarterly revenue reports from the business to make sure those percentages are being followed.

Other parts of the proposal deal with adequate ventilation of the area, cigars must average a sale price of $3 each, no one under age 21 can enter the establishment and no cigarette smoking will be allowed.

Aldermen Brian Snyder, Jason Patrick and Larry Felts voted in favor of the new ordinance with Mayor Jimmy Alexander and Alderman Beth Lothers casting “no” votes. The ordinance still has to go through a public hearing and a final reading before it can go into the books.