The 2011 legislative session is around the corner, and the financial situation of higher education is on the minds of both the administration and students.Last year the Legislature passed House Bill 196, which increased tax on tobacco products by $1, giving some of that revenue to higher education. It helped soften the blow inflicted by the 12 percent cut of funding from higher education, said Dave Buhler, associate commissioner for public affairs at Utah System of Higher Education.

THE House is holding a marathon hearing on five sin-tax bills to raise government revenue and cut the social costs of smoking.Ahead of this week’s hearing by the ways and means committee, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. told House members that restructuring the excise taxes on sin products such as cigarettes and alcohol was a priority.

Starting in 2012, cigarette packages and advertisements will have to carry new warning labels that pound home the message that smoking sickens and kills. The message isn’t new,but it will be presented in a bigger, starker format — including images of tobacco’s devastating effects — that should be harder to ignore than the tiny, text-only warning labels that have lost their punch.

Who was it who decided that gruesome pictures on cigarette packages will get smokers to stop? I could never relate to such pictures. I smoked for 60 years and quit just a year and a half ago. In all this long period I never knew anyone who suffered with some of the illnesses depicted, and during most of my life, “everyone” smoked.

A person is allowed to bring into the country a maximum of 200 sticks of cigarette or 30 pieces of cigar or 150 g of other tobacco products a month. However, they should be 18-years and above and can bring in only one tobacco product at a time.They will be charged 200 percent sales tax and customs duty for tobacco products originating from countries other than India.

Venessa McLellan, a professional tobacconist with The Leaf Cigar Company at 28 Market Court in Hattiesburg, has qualified for membership in the International Premium Cigar Pipe Retailers Association. With more than 2,000 members throughout the U.S. and 31 foreign countries, IPCPR is the leading non-profit industry organization representing retailers, manufacturers and distributors of hand-made cigars, pipes and accessories. Stores displaying the IPCPR logo are recognized as premier purveyors of premium tobacco products.

I REFER to the report “Passive smoking kills 600,000 a year: WHO” (Weekend Today, Nov 27-28). The World Health Organisation has reported that more than 600,000 people, including 165,000 children, die every year from passive smoking.

I refer to the reply “Graphic warnings on cigarette packs found effective: HPB survey” (Nov 18).The survey, conducted on a sample size of 1,000 respondents, has shown a higher abstinence from smoking as a result of the graphic warnings on cigarette packs.While I understand that the use of graphic labels is but one measure to curb tobacco use, the fact remains: Some 14.3 per cent of the population smoke, compared to 12.6 per cent six years ago.