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 >>

If DeKalb County Commissioners vote to expand its no-smoking ordinance, it will be doing its best to drive away local business, says two Georgia-based premium cigar associations. According to the Atlanta-based Georgia Premium Retail Tobacconists Association and the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association, expanding the current smoking ban to include bars, clubs, restaurant patios and other outdoor areas would cause customers to seek other, more smoker-friendly businesses in other communities. “No time is a good time for legislated smoking bans, but this is a particularl ... Jump to full article >>

The Nova Scotia government announced a five-year tobacco control strategy on Wednesday, aimed at reducing smoking rates among young people in the province. Health Minister Maureen MacDonald said the province wants to reduce smoking rates among 20- to 24-year-olds from 29 per cent to 20 per cent by 2015-16. Within the same time period, Nova Scotia also wants to reduce smoking among teenagers from 15 per cent to 10 per cent. “It is troubling to hear that one out of five tobacco vendors are still selling to minors,” MacDonald told reporters. “This is unacceptable.” [captio ... Jump to full article >>

TALLAHASSEE — Inmates in Florida’s prisons will have to wean themselves off of tobacco. The Department of Corrections plans to make all of Florida’s prisons tobacco-free this year. The department began initiating a Tobacco Cessation Initiative April 1 to phase out tobacco usage by September 30. “The decision to eliminate smoking and tobacco use was made to reduce the medical cost associated with exposure to tobacco, and eliminate second hand smoke exposure to non-smokers,” According to a Department of Corrections release. Prisons will offer inmates a 14-day sup ... Jump to full article >>

WASHINGTON, DC — The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is honored to be a partner in Joining Forces, the new White House initiative to support military families and improve the health of active-duty personnel, their families and veterans. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden are to be commended for their extraordinary effort in putting together a broad coalition to honor the service of our military personnel as well as the sacrifices they and their families make. We are pleased that the wellness component of the White House initiati ... Jump to full article >>

Local bar and nightclub owners are split over the issue of banning smoking in their establishments. Last week, an Indiana Senate committee voted 8-1 to strike down legislation that would have banned smoking in public places, with exceptions for bars, casinos, fraternal clubs, smoke shops and nursing homes. “I was a little surprised that it had failed,” said Sandi Boyles-Gillen, owner of Sonka Irish Pub, 1366 Wabash Ave. “I thought it would pass.” Boyles-Gillen said she favored a smoking ban, but added that it should be all-inclusive and enacted statewide, not by indivi ... Jump to full article >>

Idaho House Tax Chairman Dennis Lake said the policy proposal to raise the state tax on cigarettes was never introduced into the legislative session this year because of a lack of support among Republicans on the House Tax Committee. The proposal could have raised about $50 million by hiking state tax on each pack of cigarettes from 57 cents to $1.25, and Lake, R-Blackfoot, said the money raised would have helped the Medicaid program pay for health problems caused by the use of tobacco. Rep. Brian Cronin, D-Boise, said the tobacco tax increase was not given a chance because some legislators ne ... Jump to full article >>

High school students and adults working together are using tobacco settlement funds to try to make the Florida Keys tobacco free. Coral Shores High School junior Camie Lopez took one look at the jar displayed by SWAT – Students Working Against Tobacco – and blurted: “Oh, gross.” The jar’s gooey contents represented the amount of tar buildup in the lungs of someone who smokes a half-pack of cigarettes a day for one year. It was next to “Clem’s Phlegm,” another jar filled with the amount of thick mucus a smoker with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease would cough up in two wee ... Jump to full article >>

The Pennsylvania government has been digging into the extra $300 million that tobacco companies have been sending to the state each year for health costs resulting from tobacco use. Most other states receiving the 1998 Tobacco Settlement funds have been doing the same. This year, Gov. Tom Corbett has taken a step that worries health advocates even more. He has proposed depositing the tobacco funds directly into the state general fund, starting in fiscal 2012. “It’s like putting it into a black hole,” said Jen Ebersole, government relations director for the Pennsylvania Ameri ... Jump to full article >>

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel urged a ban on menthol cigarettes because they believe a ban would be beneficial to public health. Research done by the Tobacco Product Scientific Advisory Committee over the past year has concluded that menthol makes cigarettes more enticing for youths and African Americans, thus making it harder for these groups to quit smoking. Menthol is an active pharmaceutical ingredient that can be found in throat lozenges and cold and cough medicines. The amount of menthol in medicine is regulated by the FDA, but before this study the amount of menthol in ... Jump to full article >>

All Florida Department of Corrections facilities will be tobacco-free in six months — including a ban on inmate smoking. “Inmate smoking and second-hand smoking is costing millions in healthcare costs each year,” said Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Edwin Buss. “Eliminating smoking is a win for taxpayers, but it’s also a win for employees and inmates, making our facilities healthier places to work and live in, and making them a little safer too.” Smoking bans have long been in place in all of Florida’s public buildings and offices, over half of the state prisons in ... Jump to full article >>