65% of adults from the state of Kansas think smoking should be banned in public places in the state, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted for KWCH-TV in Wichita. 33% think smoking should be allowed. What should happen to the tax on cigarettes? 56% think the tax should be increased to $1.34 per pack 42% think it should be left at 79 cents per pack. Full results can be found here ... Jump to full article >>

A Colombian cigarette company owes the state of Tennessee $300,000, state officials claim. Deputy Tennessee Attorney General John Sinclair says Procesadora Nacional Cigarillera S.A., also known as Pronalci S.A., owes the money to help pay for the healthcare costs the state must cover to treat smokers, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported Wednesday. The newspaper said the payments are mandated by a 1998 legal settlement with the four largest U.S. tobacco companies to end state lawsuits over smoking-related illnesses and deaths, from which Tennessee has received more than $1.5 billion. Sinclair t ... Jump to full article >>

Since January 2006, only bars equipped to allow smoking, or cigarette shops, were able to sell tobacco products, leading to newsagents suffering a loss of up to 90 per cent of their income and forcing around 4,000 of them across the country to shut down. But starting from Monday, December 28, people will now be able to buy loose tobacco or cigarettes at the same time as their newspapers. The Association of Press Vendors in the Comunidad de Madrid (AVECOMA) says the new legislation – known as the ‘omnibus law’ – will ‘end four years of discrimination’. [caption id="attachment_2898" ... Jump to full article >>

New York City has accused several cigarette dealers on a Long Island Indian reservation of secretly defying a court to stop selling untaxed cigarettes to the general public, the New York Post reported. In August, a federal judge ruled that the largest shops on the Poospatuck reservation were to cease the sale of untaxed cigarettes to the general public, calling the sales illegal. All shops agreed to abide by the ruling, but on Wednesday, lawyers for the city filed a motion in federal court alleging that three dealers still were conducting business through newly formed cigarette stores not cove ... Jump to full article >>

Gambling, guns, tobacco and … milk? Facebook bans the promotion of all four, but a food industry group says it should ease up on the one that comes out of cows and gives you healthy bones. The Center for Consumer Freedom, a Washington-based group supported by restaurants and food companies, said Friday dairy shouldn’t be lumped together with cigarettes and prescription painkillers when it comes to banning their promotions on the site. Facebook says it’s not lactose intolerant, but there are laws prohibiting giving dairy away as a prize. Its guidelines, which are periodically ... Jump to full article >>

With less than a month until the provincial ban of power walls comes into effect, a local retailer is still seeking clarification on the finer details. Marc Bennett, who owns three convenience stores in Corner Brook, said he has been researching what happened when the ban of public displays of cigarettes and tobacco products came into effect in other parts of the country. After being informed the ban here would resemble the one in Prince Edward Island, which he said was more lenient than say that of Nova Scotia, he devised a plan of action for the Jan. 1 deadline. Since that time though, the s ... Jump to full article >>

Sellers of cigarettes and other tobacco products are likely to be given a 10–month grace period to stock up on packaging with required health warnings and display signage, the Ministry of Health has confirmed. The new Tobacco Law comes into force on 31 December, banning smoking in public places, bars and offices. Under the new law, cigarettes must carry large graphic health warnings and signage outlining the dangers of smoking must be erected at points of sale in stores and outlet. Minister Mark Scotland said the ministry had initially envisioned a timeframe of 1 May next year for tobacco de ... Jump to full article >>

Kurt Fetz had something to sell to the Choices for Women Resource Center. It was yet another choice. Quit smoking, Fetz asked the center to ask its pregnant clients. If they quit, reward them. The center’s director, Rose Condra, agreed. “He wants it to be a community effort, we all working together,” she said. Fetz is out to win more partners. He began in October as coordinator of the Floyd County Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Coalition. His role is to remind people, again and again, and again if need be, of the dangers and costs of smoking. He then offers options — primarily, t ... Jump to full article >>

Johannesburg – The SA Medical Association (Sama) on Thursday said it was “totally” opposed to cigarettes advertised in whatever shape or form, given their contribution to the burden of diseases. “Cigarette advertising, even if subliminal, is especially reprehensible when targeting our impressionable youth.” “We therefore share the concerns of the National Council Against Smoking regarding the legal challenge being launched by a Tobacco-manufacturing group against the law currently strictly banning tobacco advertising,” said Sama chairperson Dr Norman M ... Jump to full article >>

BRITISH American Tobacco of South Africa has applied to the Pretoria high court to overrule Parliament and allow it to keep advertising cigarettes to teenagers. In 2001, cigarettes companies were banned from advertising on billboards, in cinemas and on radio. Last year, Parliament amended the Tobacco Products Control Act to outlaw the “smoking parties” organised by the industry. These changes came into operation on August 21. National Council Against Smoking’s Dr Yussuf Saloojee said: “Since the early 2000s, the cigarette companies have reportedly employed ‘sexy twenty- somethings’ ... Jump to full article >>

The sale of cigarettes in packets of less than 20 sticks will be prohibited effective June 1 next year. Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said that in line with the decision, cigarette companies had been given seven months from now until May 31 next year to dispose off its stocks of cigarettes in packets of less than 20 sticks in the market. “The government will not entertain any appeal on this matter and the Health Ministry will enforce the ban fully on the manufacture and sale of cigarette packets containing less than 20 sticks beginning June 1, 2010,” he said in a statem ... Jump to full article >>