Smoking policy
Tobacco use in movies ‘falling’
obacco use in films is falling, a US report on smoking in movies has found. Yet its authors claim smoking still features in too many films and could be influencing young people to take it up. “There’s a declining trend which is good to see,” said Ursula Bauer of the Center for Disease Control. “But [...]
Ithaca outdoor smoking rules start Aug. 1
Ted Schiele has sometimes been frustrated, as he enters the Tompkins County Human Services building, to see a man smoking just outside the door, leaning against a sign designating the area as “Tobacco Free.” Schiele, coordinator of Tobacco-Free Tompkins, distributes the “T-Free” signs to any government, business or landlord who wants them. And in large [...]
Plain packs of cigarettes could turn teenagers off smoking
Wiping virtually all branding off cigarette and tobacco packets could prove crucial in turning teenagers off smoking, a New Zealand study indicates. Australia is the first country to announce a plan to force tobacco into plain packaging with large pictorial health warnings – a move the industry says it will fight. From 2012, the only [...]
FDA Marks First Anniversary of Tobacco Control Act
One year ago, President Obama signed the historic Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act). Under the Tobacco Control Act, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration obtained authority to regulate tobacco products, with a special emphasis on preventing their use by children and youth and reducing the impact of tobacco on public [...]
New rules aim to keep kids away from tobacco
With the implementation of new industry regulations, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hopes to change the face of tobacco users. Effective Tuesday, the FDA has established new rules regarding the sale, distribution and marketing of tobacco products. According to the administration, the goal of the new requirements is to “curb access to and the [...]
Charleston nation’s worst for smoking
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston and Huntington are at the top of a list of cities with the highest proportion of smokers, according to a new national ranking. Charleston ranked No. 1 in the nation, followed by Huntington at No. 3 on a list of the top 10 cities nationwide with the most smokers, according to [...]
FDA Bans Light Cigarettes Brands
It was just a little over a year ago when Congress passed a landmark piece of legislation that allowed the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products. But in just a few days, its first new rule goes into effect and it’s already affecting local businesses in Eugene. Lighting up and taking a drag [...]
England smoking ban cut heart attacks
A ban on smoking in public places in England led to a swift and significant drop in the number of heart attacks, saving the health service 8.4 million pounds ($13 million) in the first year, scientists said on Wednesday. The findings of a large British study suggest that anti-smoking legislation has the potential to save [...]
Cigarette Packs Adjust for FDA Regulations
Current Marlboro Lights cigarette consumers will have to get used to new lingo when asking for their brand of choice at tobacco retailers and convenience stores, as tobacco companies are adjusting labels and brands to conform to new U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations going into effect June 22. The FDA ruled cigarette packs no [...]
Pictorial warnings on tobacco packs in India from Dec 1
NEW DELHI: Gory pictorial warnings will have to wait six more months before they can appear on tobacco packs. Buckling under pressure from the powerful tobacco lobby, the health ministry has decided to defer gory warnings on cigarette and tobacco packs till December 1. The ministry’s earlier public notification made on March 5 had announced [...]
Florida emerges as center of tobacco litigation universe
On April 26, a Fort Lauderdale jury found Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Liggett Group responsible for the cancer death of Margot Putney, a Florida woman who began smoking in about 1953 at the age of 15 and died in 1995. The verdict: $15 million. On April 21, a Gainesville jury said [...]
Many teens mistook smokeless tobacco products for candy
One out of three teenagers younger than 18 mistakenly identified a new type of smokeless tobacco product as candy or gum in a survey conducted by a Virginia tobacco-prevention group. Conducted last year by student volunteers with the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, the survey asked about 1,400 people, including 728 younger than 18, to [...]
FDA reviewing whether to ban menthol cigarettes
Federal officials began grappling Tuesday with one of the thorniest issues surrounding the regulation of tobacco: whether to ban menthol, the most popular cigarette flavoring, which is smoked by millions of Americans every day. The issue carries great importance for public health advocates and tobacco executives. But it also has racial implications, since menthol cigarettes [...]
Israel should completely bar smoking in public
One of the world’s leading anti-tobacco fighters, Prof. Gregory Connolly of the Harvard School of Public Health, advises Israel to abandon its policy of optional “smoking rooms” in public places and to completely bar lighting up in such locations instead. In an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post on Monday during his second visit to [...]
