Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and cigarette smoking, the predominant form of tobacco use in the United States, causes 443,000 deaths annually (1). In 2008, 20.6% of U.S. adults were current smokers (2); however, other tobacco products (e.g., smokeless tobacco, cigars, bidis, and kreteks) also were used by some adults and youths (3). Persons who use cigarettes in combination with other tobacco products (polytobacco use) might have an in increased risk for adverse health effects (3). To estimate the prevalence of any tobacco and polytobacco use, CDC ... Jump to full article >>

A state lawmaker from Des Moines says he wants to close a loophole that allows new filtered cigars to get around the state’s higher tobacco taxes. Some manufacturers have increased the weight of their small cigars, known as cigarillos, by adding less filler and more tobacco, pushing them into the low-tax category of large cigars. State Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, says the new cigarillos should be taxed like cigarettes. McCoy says they first need to determine how many manufacturers are falling under this loophole. The new filtered cigars can cost as little as a dollar and ... Jump to full article >>

If owners of most of the 61 bars and restaurants exempt from Springfield’s 2003 restaurant smoking ban aren’t concerned about the proposed citywide ban on public smoking, at least one retailer is – and he plans to fight. The co-owner of Just For Him LLC has taken up the sword. The shop, a men’s gift, cigar and tobacco store in Fremont Center, has a smoking room customers can use to sample their purchases. The ban would force Just For Him to close the room and possibly the store, said co-owner Christian Hutson, who bought the store last year. “If we are unable to smoke in my cigar sho ... Jump to full article >>

When a statue of Isambard Kingdom Brunel was unveiled at the London college bearing his name three years ago, some commented on the absence of the cigar that Brunel was rarely seen without. (He got through 40 a day.) The worry was, apparently, that Brunel’s vile habit had fallen victim to the disapproval of drinking, smoking, violence and gambling in public spaces. Brunel University and the sculptor both denied this. It was a matter of aesthetics, they said. But news comes of a much greater threat to the cigar industry than moralisers – a threat so grave it leads one to question whethe ... Jump to full article >>

Castro, Churchill and Kennedy enjoyed a puff, but Cuban cigar exports have fallen by two-thirds in three years. Smoking bans and recession are stubbing out Cuba’s cigar industry, signalling a hostile era for a product whose mystique once captivated the likes of Winston Churchill, John F Kennedy and Fidel Castro. The latest harvest of 22.4m leaves was 14% down on last year, according to figures published this week, continuing a decline which has seen the number of cigars produced for export plunge from 217m in 2006 to 73m last year. “There was a reduction in planting due to limitati ... Jump to full article >>

A cigar was definitely still a cigar Thursday night at the Empire Hotel where Bill Paley, the son of William and Babe Paley, launched his new cigar line, La Palina. The line is not completely new: It’s a throwback to the Congress Cigar Company his grandfather, Sam Paley, founded in 1896. “Cigars are in my blood,” Mr. Paley said, a few days before the event. “I’ve worked on the edges of broadcasting and media for a long time, but La Palina is where the family got its start.” “I had a hard time getting cigars that were the quality and the flavor I liked, ... Jump to full article >>

Officials at a British museum dedicated to Winston Churchill said they do not know who altered a prominently displayed photograph to remove the leader’s cigar. John Welsh, manager of The Winston Churchill’s Britain at War Experience museum in London, said he was shocked when a museum visitor pointed out the picture hanging above the entrance, a reproduction of an iconic image of Churchill giving the “V” for victory salute, had been digitally altered to remove a cigar from the World War II leader’s mouth, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday. Welsh said he does not ... Jump to full article >>

The New York State Tobacconists Association and the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) are demanding that the proposed state tax increase to 90 percent on cigars and other tobacco products be voted down before the state loses more money and jobs because of what they say is another small business killer. The New York State Tobacconists Association and the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) are demanding that the proposed state tax increase to 90 percent on cigars and other tobacco products be voted down before the state loses ... Jump to full article >>

The Senate last night unanimously attached to its fiscal 2011 budget proposal changes to the state’s probation department. The bipartisan amendment limits the probation commissioner to serving a five-year term, allows the commissioner to fire, hire and promote individuals only with the approval of the head of the trial court, and establishes a task force that would recommend by Oct. 1 whether the department should be placed under the executive branch or elsewhere. “We should not be in the position of making a decision without all the facts before us,” said Sen. Cynthia Creem, a Newton De ... Jump to full article >>

The Berkeley County Board of Health this week voted 2-0 to adopt changes to the county’s indoor air regulation to exempt retail tobacco stores from the rules. Board member George Karos was absent for the meeting on Monday and Ruby Foltz recently resigned from the board. Board chair Joy Buck, who only votes to break a tie, was not present for the meeting either, but authorized county health officer Diana Gaviria to preside in her absence, Berkeley County Health Department administrator Bill Kearns confirmed. Gaviria, according to state code, is to act as the board’s secretary and is a nonvo ... Jump to full article >>

The Commonwealth Cigar Club offers a comfortable setting for tobacco aficionados. David Meyer leaned back in a leather-upholstered chair and smoked a Davidoff Aniversario No. 3. Seated nearby, Kelly Morrison savored a Davidoff 1000 and Rich Carney a Davidoff Puro D’Oro. The three lounged and puffed in the members-only Commonwealth Cigar Club one floor above David and Renee Meyer’s Milan Tobacconists retail store in Roanoke. An annual fee of $1,000 and a biometric lock that reads fingerprints offer entry into the not-for-profit club, which formally opened April 16. Cigar aficionados ... Jump to full article >>