tobacco

House Passes Bill Allowing County Cigarette Taxes

Rep. Mitch Greenlick tells The Lund Report he would like the threat of county-by-county taxes to be used as leverage for a statewide cigarette tax increase, which would still assist county health departments.
April 5, 2013 — Oregon counties are one step closer to adopting their own cigarette taxes, after the House voted 31-29 to remove a statute from state law that precludes any entity but the state from taxing tobacco. Read More >>

Smoking Cessation Benefits Improve in Oregon

Collaborative leads the way in establishing an effective standard of care
March 7, 2013 -- Oregonians save $400 million in healthcare costs every time the smoking rate drops by 1 percent, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. To help people quit, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 734 in 2009, requiring health insurers to spend at least $500 per person on tobacco cessation programs. By enacting that law, 70 percent of Oregonians -- 15 and older -- had such coverage. Yet, advocates recognized the gap between having benefit coverage and having benefits that actually made a difference. Read More >>

Oregon Legislators Want to Ban Smoking in Cars with Kids

Secondhand smoke in cars is 27 percent more concentrated than in smoker’s homes, according to the California EPA
  February 21, 2013 -- Republican Rep. Jim Thompson of Dallas said that enacting a ban on smoking in cars with children isn’t about restricting personal choice. It’s about shielding those who don’t have a choice to be around secondhand smoke.
 
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Tomei Wants Tobacco Money Spent on Prevention

The state has received $1 billion from the tobacco master settlement agreement, but thus far that money has not gone to tobacco prevention
February 20, 2013 -- In a landmark lawsuit brought by state attorneys general in 1998, the major tobacco companies settled with the states for $206 billion to compensate them for decades of false advertising while selling a product that causes cancer and has greatly increased public health costs, particularly for Medicaid. Read More >>

Advocates Want Legislature to Spend Tobacco Agreement Funds on Prevention

They’re also enlisting the support of coordinated care organizations to help them sway legislators next year
October 11, 2012 -- Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death in Oregon and comes with an expensive bill. The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, signed by Oregon and 45 other states in 1998, was supposed to help the state recover some of the states’ tobacco-related healthcare costs. According to the Oregon Partners for Tobacco Prevention, formerly known as the Tobacco Free Coalition of Oregon, the state has yet to use the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement funds as they were intended, something they hope will change when the legislature convenes next February. Read More >>

Governor Kitzhaber Signs Executive Order for Tobacco-free State Properties

Executive order will create a single, statewide policy requiring state properties to be tobacco-free
August 4, 2012 -- Governor Kitzhaber signed an Executive Order that will establish most state-owned buildings and properties as tobacco-free while creating a single, statewide policy to transition state properties to tobacco-free status by 2014.   Read More >>

Legislation Intends to Keep Tobacco Away from Minors

The bill would allow Oregon State Police to hire reserve retired police officers and enforce stare laws banning the sale of tobacco to anyone under age 18
February 24, 2012 -- It’s against the law in Oregon to sell tobacco products to minors, a law that hasn’t been enforced since 2009. House Bill 4172, sponsored by the House Rules Committee and championed by Reps. Carolyn Tomei (D-Milwaukie) and Andy Olson (R-Albany), aims to change that. Read More >>

Oregon Tobacco Quit Line Offers More Online Coaching

Smokers who use Quit Line report better chances of breaking the habit
November 16, 2011 --Almost 70 percent of Oregon tobacco users want to quit, and those who use the free Oregon Tobacco Quit Line have a better chance of breaking their addiction for good. New online coaching services, in addition to phone coaching, make the Quit Line more convenient and accessible than ever. Read More >>

Hookah Lounge Owners Fear Bill Bad for Business

Anti-tobacco advocates cite dangers of hookah smoking and its appeal to teens, but lounge owners say they provide a safe cultural experience
March 2, 2011 – Health advocates strongly support a bill that would shutter Oregon’s hookah lounges, citing their smoking-centric atmosphere and targeted marketing to youth. Read More >>

Legislators, Health Advocates Call for Tobacco Tax Hikes

At the same time, tobacco proponents want to make it easier to get cigarettes by expanding the definition of a smoke shop
February 8, 2011--Anti-tobacco advocates have an ambitious agenda, and are backing a bevy of bills slated to appear before the Oregon Legislature in the coming weeks. But to succeed, they’ll have to overcome public perception, healthcare priority shifts and an extremely well-funded opposition.   Read More >>
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