Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri, according to the 9-11 commission report, was the mastermind of the Oct. 12, 2000, attack on the U.S.S. Cole that killed 17 U.S. sailors. Nashiri was also the target of an “unauthorized” CIA interrogation technique (that had not been legally vetted by the Justice Department) that is described in a May 7, 2004, CIA inspector general’s report that was partially declassified by the Obama administration this week. CIA officers blew smoke in Nashiri’s face, according to the report, and they used cigars. The IG’s office described this smoke-blowi ... Jump to full article >>

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Now that an anti-smoking group has lost the fight over whether cigar bars exist in Nebraska, it’s focusing on where the smoke blows. Mark Welsch, president of the Group to Alleviate Smoking Pollution, told regulators Thursday that smoking in cigar bars shouldn’t be exempt from the state’s anti-smoking law if smoke infiltrates neighboring shops or businesses. Welsch, speaking before the Liquor Control Commission during a public hearing in Lincoln, also said a rule requiring ventilation systems in cigar bars should be struck down. He said it gives the ... Jump to full article >>

BATON ROUGE – Voluntary smoking cessation programs at two state correctional facilities have proven successful in the first months of implementation as the Department readies for a full ban on indoor smoking by August 15, 2009. State correctional facilities are on target to comply with the Louisiana Smokefree Air Act, passed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2006. However, a provision in the law gave state correctional facilities more time to implement the indoor smoking ban. Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary James M. Le Blanc says the Department has revised its smoking ... Jump to full article >>

It’s not a great time to be a smoker. New laws subject tobacco — and its use — to more restrictions than ever before. New taxes are being imposed, raising the cost of smoking. None of this, however, daunts Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, a third-generation cigar maker in Miami. With his shaved head and hawk-like glare, he is almost an intimidating presence. He has been involved in the cigar business for most of his 57 years. At his warehouse in Miami’s Little Havana, he is working with his son and daughter to create a new signature cigar. He pulls out boxes of tobacco from N ... Jump to full article >>

Although the Department of Defense is considering phasing in a ban on tobacco use in the military over as many as 20 years, The Pentagon reassured troops this week that it won’t ban tobacco products in war zones, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ press secretary Geoff Morrell. But the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association isn’t taking any chances. Although the Department of Defense is considering phasing in a ban on tobacco use in the military over as many as 20 years, The Pentagon reassured troops this week that it won’t ban tobacco pr ... Jump to full article >>

Cooper Seeks to Keep High-Tech, Unregulated Smoking Devices Out of the Hands of Young Smokers As home to one of the nation’s first public smoking bans, and one of the first localities in the country to raise the legal age to purchase cigarettes to 19, Suffolk County has been at the vanguard of national efforts to break America’s addiction to smoking. But now a new, high-tech smoking threat has emerged in the form of “electronic cigarettes.” Marketed towards young smokers, untested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and lacking any governmental oversight wh ... Jump to full article >>

GRAPEVINE – How smoke-free does Grapevine want to be? A discussion between the City Council and staffers Tuesday evening that centered on a potential tobacco ordinance for youth sports facilities wound up including a brief conversation about whether the city should also look into tobacco restrictions for botanical gardens, all neighborhood parks, city buildings, indoor facilities ” or even a citywide ban. The impetus for the discussion was more basic: Should the city add an ordinance banning cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco at facilities where youths play baseball, soccer, so ... Jump to full article >>

Tampa hasn’t been the Cigar City for many decades. The cigar-manufacturing plants that provided the community a national identity long before the Bucs, the Lightning or even MacDill Air Force Base have been closing or relocating from the area for more than a generation. Still, it’s sad to see the closing of Hav-A-Tampa’s Seffner plant, which produced the product so closely associated with a community that once hosted the Cigar Bowl. The company will continue to produce cigars in Puerto Rico. But close to 500 local jobs will be lost. Hillsborough’s sole cigar operation n ... Jump to full article >>

WASHINGTON — Kentucky burley tobacco farmers and the state’s congressional delegation are seeing smoke over a plan by the Canadian government to ban fruit and bubble gum flavors and other similar additives in cigarettes and cigarillos. The lawmakers and the roughly 8,100 Kentucky farmers who cultivate burley tobacco say the proposal, designed to curb youth smoking, would decimate the market for American air-cured burley tobacco, which is used to make most of Canada’s cigarettes. “One of the biggest things it does is it effectively bans almost all flavoring used in pr ... Jump to full article >>

The Lakers won the NBA championship last night, beating the Orlando Magic 99—86. The win gave coach Phil “the Zen Master” Jackson his tenth NBA title as coach, making him the most accomplished man ever to coach in the NBA, and he intended to celebrate with a smoke. Jackson, who had been tied at nine victories with Red Auerbach, a man who was seldom seen without a cigar in hand, told the media after the game that he would fire up in honor of moving past the Celtics legend. “I’ll smoke a cigar tonight in memory of Red,” Jackson said. “He was a great gu ... Jump to full article >>