South Shields newsagent fined for under-age cigarette sale

A South Tyneside newsagent has been fined for selling cigarettes to children and illegally displaying tobacco products in his shop.

Monir Hussein, who was the co-proprietor of Chichester News in Stanhope Road, South Shields, pleaded guilty to selling a packet of ten cigarettes to a 16 year-old Trading Standards volunteer as part of a test purchase operation by South Tyneside Council’s Trading Standards team.

He also admitted that the shutters covering the tobacco display had been open while the volunteer and Trading Standards staff were in the shop, leading to one of the first ever successful prosecutions for the unauthorised display of tobacco products.

Despite advice being given by the Trading Standards service on several occasions regarding the display and age-restricted sales of tobacco products, Mr Hussein had not acted on this advice.

Magistrates fined him £140 and ordered him to pay £100 investigation costs and a £40 victim surcharge.

Councillor Moira Smith, Lead Member for Public Health said: “Selling tobacco products to persons under the age of 18 will not be tolerated. Tobacco is an addictive and deadly product that must be prevented from falling into the hands of children and young people. Our Trading Standards service has spent a lot of time educating retailers to ensure they do not supply age-restricted products such as tobacco to those under age and it is always disappointing when such sales occur.

“Tobacco causes its users serious health problems, and also impacts on the community in the form of costs to the NHS.

“The display of tobacco products can promote smoking by young people and undermine the resolve of smokers trying to quit.”
Ailsa Rutter, Director of Fresh, said: "Most smokers start as children or in their mid teens, and end up wishing they had never started.

"No other product will kill one in two of its lifelong customers, and both the 18 age limit and rules on displaying tobacco are there for a very good reason."

Anyone with information regarding under age sales can report this in confidence by calling 0800 0935878 or text the word UNDERAGE and details to 07786200802.

Resource:http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/crime/south-shields-newsagent-fined-for-under-age-cigarette-sale-1-7861784

One cigar shop closes, while another plans to open premium lounge downtown; art event set to close portion of Mass. Street

I don’t have to remind fellow KU fans that we won’t be needing a celebratory cigar for this weekend’s Final Four — unless we want to stick it up the nose of a Sooner fan. (My apologies, as you may have sensed, I haven’t quite figured out whether to root for our fellow Big 12 member.) Regardless, west Lawrence’s upscale cigar shop and lounge has closed, but there is word of a new one heading to downtown.

Centro Cigars at 4811 Bob Billings Parkway has closed. I went to the location, and it was locked up, and a fellow at an adjacent business also confirmed the closing, although he said he’d been informed people were looking at the location with some hope of reopening the cigar shop and lounge in future months.

More certain is that plans are underway to open Issachar Cigar Shop at 726 Massachusetts St. Owner Michael McNellis, a Johnson County private equity firm manager, said the business will be a “premier cigar lounge.”

“Unfortunately, we are nowhere near opening,” McNellis said. “I wish we were.”

If you are confused about where the business is locating, it is going into the space that formerly housed Creation Station. (That still may leave some of you confused, as eliminating confusion wasn’t exactly the eclectic Creation Station’s calling card.)

The new business venture allows McNellis to combine a couple of things he really enjoys: cigars and downtown Lawrence.

“This is a flat-out homer call for me,” said McNellis, who grew up in Lawrence. “I’m a fan and love the downtown, and I just want to be part of that culture.”

McNellis said he plans on hiring several cigar experts to staff the business. Plans call for people to be able to purchase cigars there and also to be able to smoke them on the premises with other aficionados.

You may be confused again, since Lawrence does have an indoor smoking ban. But the ban does allow for smoking to take place at businesses that are designated as tobacco shops. Tobacco shops, though, have to meet some pretty strict definitions and have limitations on what they can sell. For example, the cigar lounge won’t be able to sell you a nice glass of wine or bourbon to go along with that cigar.

McNellis said patrons also won’t be able to bring their own bottle of wine or alcoholic beverage to consume on-site. He said the site will offer coffee and soft drinks, comfortable furniture and other amenities for cigar fans.

“It will be a very nice environment to enjoy a cigar,” McNellis said. “Unfortunately, it is still several months away.”

McNellis said he hopes construction work to remodel the building begins in earnest in April. Among the changes planned for the building is a new patio area on the back side of the building.

In other news and notes from around town:

• As I told you a couple of weeks ago, we are entering the season when street parties and road-closed signs will start popping up in downtown like dandelions in a Lawhorn lawn. The latest event to receive City Hall approval is a longtime Lawrence tradition. Art in the Park has received a permit to hold its annual event on May 1.

Plans call for the portion of Massachusetts Street that runs through South Park to be closed to traffic from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on May 1. The event will include vendors on the street, but also spread out through South Park.

The event is hosted by the Lawrence Art Guild, and as we have reported, that nonprofit has had some organizational troubles. But this permit seems to be a good sign that those troubles will not derail the popular Art in the Park event. 

Resource: http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/town_talk/2016/apr/1/one-cigar-shop-closes-while-another-plan/

It's going to put us out of business’: Smoke shops in pinch following tobacco tax hike

 The only tax hike in the Nova Scotia government’s provincial budget is leaving tobacco shop owners and smokers in a financial crunch.

The tobacco tax will increase by two cents a cigarette or 50 cents a pack. As for cigars, the tax rate will increase by 4 per cent.

"Tobacco shop owner Craig Sievert says this could be the nail in his shop’s coffin.
t's a big increase,” said Sievert. “It's going to put us out of business."

 Sievert says he didn't think he'd see an increase in the budget, saying prices are high enough and customers aren't willing to pay more.

"I've been fed up with this for years and I've told everybody I'm getting out of (the business),” said Sievert. “It just makes it a little easier to decide to get out of it."

But some smokers say there's no right answer when it comes to taxing tobacco products.

"Money has to come from somewhere, and cigarette smoking it not necessarily a need,” said smoker Dara Taylor. “It would make sense for that to go up instead of putting taxes on food or things that we need to survive.”

Although, Sievert says smokers are targeted every budget.

“Every time you turn around, they’re looking for more money,” he said. “I really think it’s time that something’s done besides picking on the smokers.”

The tobacco tax increase will go into effect on Wednesday.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Amanda Debison.  

Resource: http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/it-s-going-to-put-us-out-of-business-smoke-shops-in-pinch-following-tobacco-tax-hike-1.2866119