End Smoking NZ says cigarettes released for sale fell 11% in 2010. In 2009 3697 million cigarettes were released for sale by manufacturers, decreasing to 3343 million in 2010. And End Smoking NZ said in total, cigarette sales decreased 54% per adult from 1990 to 2010. Chairman Murray Laugesen said the number of cigarettes per adult is now at its lowest in 90 years. “We can thank the record 119 MPs from all parties who voted in April 2010 to increase tobacco excise,” Dr Laugesen said. He said the increased tax on hand-rolled cigarettes, the Maori Affairs Parliamentary CommitteeR ... Jump to full article >>

TOKYO — Japan Tobacco (JT) said it planned to close its Austrian factory by early 2012 and cut related administrative staff, entering negotiations with labour union representatives towards shedding 320 jobs. “We have formalised intent to close the Hainburg factory, followed by the commencement of consultations with the local works council,” the company said in a statement issued late Thursday. Along with the plant closure, some of the Vienna-based administrative functions are also anticipated to be rationalised. The move is “for the purpose of developing the manufacturing ... Jump to full article >>

OLYMPIA — State lawmakers are looking to ease Washington’s strict smoking ban by allowing cigar and pipe smoking for a limited number of tobacco retailers. A key Senate committee approved a bill Thursday that would permit up to 100 cigar lounges and 500 retail tobacco shops to allow smoking. Cigarettes would still be banned. Businesses would have to pay annual fees of $17,500 to obtain cigar lounge endorsements and $6,000 to obtain tobacco store endorsements. Supporters say the bill could help some local businesses hurt by the smoking ban that voters approved in 2005. Critics say the m ... Jump to full article >>

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Smoking on campus at MSU is fairly simple: stay at least twenty-five feet from any building, and you’re free to light up where you please. But after a vote form the University Council banning all tobacco products, that will soon change. The Council unanimously approved the no tobacco initiative. “Tobacco-free MSU just means, MSU property, MSU campus, no tobacco use”, said student body Vice President Joey Steffens. The policy will be drafted over the summer and is expected to be approved this fall. The campus will then spend next school year educating s ... Jump to full article >>

HAVANA, Cuba — “Centralization” has become a bad word in the Cuban lexicon lately, blamed by President Raul Castro as the source of the island’s enervating bureaucracy and economic stagnation. As part of his economic reform push, Castro wants to give more independence to Cuba’s state companies and local governments, freeing them from the need to obtain Havana’s permission for every little decision and expenditure. But a series of corruption scandals among Cuban executives in recent months has been a reminder as to how the island’s state-run economy got so centralized in the firs ... Jump to full article >>

If you fire up a battery-powered cigarette in public, are you harming yourself and others? Or are you exercising your right to use an alternative to incendiary tobacco that might help you kick a nasty and dangerous habit? Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department officials are considering a ban on electronic cigarettes in public places, and those questions are certain to be heatedly discussed in the next few weeks. Proposed regulations unveiled Wednesday would prohibit e-smoking – or “vaping,” as users call it – anywhere the use of real cigarettes and cigars already is prohibited by stat ... Jump to full article >>

IRELAND REMAINS one of the “preferred destinations” in the EU for cigarette smuggling because of its comparatively high taxes on tobacco, a new report into criminal activity in the union has found. Europol, the agency that handles criminal intelligence within the union, published its EU Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2011 yesterday. It covers a wide range of criminal activity, including the drugs trade, illegal immigration, human trafficking, fraud, counterfeiting, property and environmental crime and weapons trafficking. Europol says the “outstanding” feature of its latest assessm ... Jump to full article >>

STAR CITY, Ark. (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest has been charged with a felony for allegedly trying to smuggle tobacco to a death row inmate. Fifty-year-old Rev. Charles Thessing of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Morrilton was charged Wednesday in Lincoln County Circuit Court. He faces three to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine if convicted. Thessing did not return a phone call seeking comment. Administrative affairs chancellor Dennis Lee with the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that Thessing remains a priest in good standing. Lee was stopped at t ... Jump to full article >>

MAASIN CITY, Philippines—City officials are butting out opposition from a multinational tobacco company to an ordinance that prohibits smoking in all public places and workplaces. Philip Morris has claimed that Ordinance No. 2009-042 was inconsistent with Republic Act No. 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, which, it says, established a “balanced policy” in the use, sale and advertisements of tobacco products. In a press conference on Monday, Mayor Malone Samaco vowed that the city would continue to implement the city’s no-smoking drive, saying it had gained ground and would ma ... Jump to full article >>

COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) — Eating healthy can start in the checkout line. So Vermont officials are making a pitch to retailers in hopes of getting consumers to eat healthier food and avoid tobacco and alcohol. On Wednesday, the state Department of Health is holding a conference to launch its “Healthy Retailers” campaign, a training session involving 75 community health advocates. As part of it, store owners will be offered free point-of-sale materials including posters that show people involved in healthy activities. Dr. Harry Chen, the state health commissioner, says point-of-sale a ... Jump to full article >>

Parents shouldn’t let up in their efforts when it comes to discouraging their kids from smoking, suggests a new study. Researchers, led by E. Melinda Mahabee-Gittens, an emergency medicine physician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, sought to determine if family factors continue to protect adolescents as they grow older and whether these factors affect youths of varying racial/ethnic backgrounds differently. Investigators studied 3,473 pairs of white, black and Hispanic parents and nonsmoking youths who participated in the National Survey of Parents and Youth in No ... Jump to full article >>