Google has accepted pro-pot-legalization ads similar to those rejected by Facebook, a spokesman for the Just Say Now coalition told HuffPost Wednesday, providing a confirmation email from a Google representative. Google also accepted ads attacking Facebook for blocking the campaign’s web ads. [UPDATE: Google will allow the ads to reference to controversy but not name Facebook specifically, for trademark reasons.] “Facebook’s concocted prissiness over political advocacy is more to be disparaged than imitated. Freedom of expression is made of sterner stuff. Google deserves appl ... Jump to full article >>

A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order Monday allowing a Seneca Nation mail-order cigarette retailer to supply tobacco products across the country without having to meet the requirements of a new federal law that took effect at midnight. District Judge Richard J. Arcara granted the motion as part of the retailer’s lawsuit against the U.S. government. The retailer, Red Earth, which does business as Seneca Smokeshop, has asked the court to declare the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act unconstitutional. Seneca Smokeshop, a 10-year-old business, employs 17 people and sells ... Jump to full article >>

The Foodtown and Woolworths supermarket chains will remove the words “light” and “mild” from cigarette adverts on their online shopping websites, after the Herald told them of an official warning against using the “potentially misleading” terms. The Commerce Commission in 2008 issued a public warning to New Zealand’s three main tobacco companies over “light” and “mild” on tobacco packaging, saying the terms may mislead consumers and therefore risked breaching the Fair Trading Act. The commission said consumers may believe they w ... Jump to full article >>

The popular yet repulsive ‘2 Year Old Smoking Cigarettes Video’ has been removed from YouTube. This popular website to store and share videos had numerous videos of the child who was puffing cigarettes; the notice of terms of service was posted instead of the video leaving the audience looking for the video completely out of luck. Did YouTube.com remove the video because it broke the rules? It appears so! This is one of those please ‘don’t make me look’ videos that you just can’t turn away from. Giving perspective about a child who was using a substance that ... Jump to full article >>

Book seller Borders Group Inc. hopes to redefine itself with a new $25-million investment from financier Bennett LeBow, who will become its chairman and biggest shareholder. In an era of deep discounts on printed books and growing consumer appetite for electronic ones, the struggling company will use the infusion it announced Friday to strengthen its balance sheet and invest in its online business. “As an astute investor and business operator with a strong technology background and proven experience with driving company turnarounds, [LeBow] will play an extremely important role in helpin ... Jump to full article >>

Authority to regulate Internet cigarette sales made from an American Indian reservation in another state was upheld Wednesday in a ruling by the Oregon Court of Appeals. Scott Maybee, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York state, had argued Oregon law did not apply to the reservation and he was subject only to federal law. The court rejected his claims, ruling that Oregon law did not regulate his business operations on the reservation, and instead affected only the products his business sold in Oregon. In an opinion by Presiding Judge David Schuman, the Court of Appeals ... Jump to full article >>

Kansas officials are launching a new website to help with the implementation of a new statewide smoking ban. Lt. Gov. Troy Findley and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment will announce the new site today. The ban was signed in March by Gov. Mark Parkinson and takes effect July 1. It prohibits smoking in most enclosed public places, businesses, taxis, limousines, restaurants, bars and within 10 feet from entrances and air intakes at such facilities. Members of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition will attend the news conference with Findley and Rod Bremby, the secretary of health and e ... Jump to full article >>

UMD’s smoking policy has caused confusion and frustration for years. Though it clearly states smoking is not allowed anywhere on campus, smokers and cigarette butts are a common sight. “Last fall, students said, ‘We want it enforced or we don’t want it at all,’” said Jackie Millslagle, Vice Chancellor for Academic Support. Millslagle says repealing the policy was not an option. So this spring, they’re trying something different. Proponents say the smoking policy has not changed. All that’s different is how they’re approaching it and enforci ... Jump to full article >>

Roughly one week after the U.S. Senate unanimously passed its version of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT Act), the U.S. House passed that version in a 387-25 vote, sending the proposal to President Barack Obama for action. The PACT Act would prohibit the U.S. Postal Service from delivering cigarettes ordered over the Internet, in an effort to lessen tax evasion and youth access to tobacco. The bill — which originally passed the House in May — is authored by Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 20 senators. The passage out of the Senate was a ... Jump to full article >>

The sale of untaxed cigarettes from Indians to non-Indians has been a long standing issue, especially in the Mohawk Valley with the Oneida Indian Nation. Now Gov. David Paterson is giving collecting this revenue another shot, looking to enforce a law he signed in Utica in December 2008. Local Indian nations are cool to the concept. “This is a different kind of enforcement. It’s enforcement on the wholesale level, not retail,” spokesman Morgan Hook said. “The enforcement happens before the cigarettes get to the Indian nations.” Recent proposed state regulations would limit the quantit ... Jump to full article >>

A new Penn State student-created YouTube video has a message for incoming freshmen and current smokers: Smoking is ugly. “Tackling Tobacco at Penn State,” originally created as a class project by Tiana Lukas and Lisa Tubb, will be shown to students at the First-Year Testing, Consulting and Advising Program (FTCAP). It will also be used to promote Freedom From Smoking, a new program at Penn State that aims to help students quit smoking. Lukas (sophomore-health policy and administration) and Tubb (junior-health policy and administration) said the class assignment was to design an inf ... Jump to full article >>