All News

In recent years, smoking has become an acute global problem, and it is estimated that there are 1.2 billion smokers worldwide. The habit of smoking cigarette was once considered sexy, cool, good for health, was promoted by the sportsmen, advertised all over the television and was widely enjoyed by many people. The world has now awoken to all the hazardous effect of cigarette smoking, and it is now considered a bad habit which can cost a smoker his or her health and life. In the 20th century, smoking killed more than 100 million people worldwide, and tobacco kills one person every six seconds. These days, cigarettes smokers are considered anti-social, and are usually frowned at if they smoke in the crowded places. Smoking is addictive,... Read More

October 12, 2012 / The Associated Press / Columbia, S.C. – Clemson University, which spent millions helping farmers grow tobacco and was famed for tobacco-spitting football coach Danny Ford, is banning all tobacco products both indoors and outdoors within two years. Clemson officials said they are bringing together students, professors and administrators to write a tobacco-free policy and put the plans in place by 2014. Clemson won’t be the first South Carolina school to ban tobacco, but it will be the largest. The school has plenty of ties to tobacco, such as a $380,000 grant from Philip Morris International in 2010 to pay for research to lower the cost of growing the crop and the image of Ford with a plug of tobacco in... Read More

October 11, 2012 / Bloomberg BusinessWeek / — Cigarette makers including Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) and British American Tobacco Plc (BATS) are fighting a last-ditch battle against a smoking crackdown in Russia, with three weeks left to change the government’s mind. Russia should scale back the proposal that would ban smoking in public places, tobacco sponsorship and cigarette sales in kiosks, Alexander Shokhin, head of the Union of Industrialists, a lobby group for big business, said yesterday. Government legal advisers in August reversed their original approval of the anti-tobacco bill, recommending changes to the planned measures. LINK TO ARTICLE Read More

September 28, 2012 / Minnesota Post / — The incidence of onscreen smoking in movies increased from 2010 to 2011, ending what had been a five-year decline, according to a new study published Thursday by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco’s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. Many of the movies with significant amounts of smoking were youth-rated films, such as the animated film “Rango” (PG) and “X-Men: First Class” (PG-13). The study also found that film companies that have publicly declared their intentions to restrict smoking in youth-rated films were among the worst offenders. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, depictions of smoking in movies increases the likelihood that... Read More

The following article, excerpted here, was published in the Wall Street Journal. You can read the entire article at the WSJ website but you may need a subscription. What’s Really in Your Cigarette? by Robert N. Proctor August 31, 2012 / Wall Street Journal / — There are lots of myths about cigarettes: that “lights” offer protection, for one, or that filters actually filter. Yet another myth is that cigarettes are just tobacco rolled in paper. Nothing could be further from the truth. The cigarette is a surprisingly complex artifact, as we now know from the treasure trove of documents released in the course of litigation. The tobacco archives online at legacy.library.ucsf.edu contain some 80 million pages of... Read More

September 4, 2012 / New York Daily News / – If you’re relying on electronic cigarettes (or e-cigarettes) as a safer alternative to smoking, a new study finds that they may still be causing harm to your lungs. E-cigarettes, which release a vaporized dose of liquid nicotine without smoke or tobacco, have been stirring up hot debate over their safety, with some experts urging that they be pulled from the shelves. In the latest study, researchers from the University of Athens in Greece recruited eight people who had never smoked and 24 smokers, 11 with normal lung function and 13 with either chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma. In the study, each subject used an electronic cigarette for 10 minutes, with researchers... Read More

The following article, excerpted here, was published in the Wall Street Journal. You can read the entire article at the WSJ website but you may need a subscription. What’s Really in Your Cigarette? by Robert N. Proctor August 31, 2012 / Wall Street Journal / — There are lots of myths about cigarettes: that “lights” offer protection, for one, or that filters actually filter. Yet another myth is that cigarettes are just tobacco rolled in paper. Nothing could be further from the truth. The cigarette is a surprisingly complex artifact, as we now know from the treasure trove of documents released in the course of litigation. The tobacco archives online at legacy.library.ucsf.edu contain some 80 million pages of... Read More

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2012 — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz announced this week that Saudi Arabia will begin enforcing the royal decree banning smoking in public places effective immediately. Under the official order, smoking, including shisha (waterpipe), is banned in all government facilities and most commercial areas, including restaurants, supermarkets, and shopping malls. The order also prohibits the sale of tobacco to those under the age of 18. “This ban represents a significant step in the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to decrease the smoking population in Saudi Arabia,” said Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir. “Saudi Arabia is... Read More

June 10, 2012 / Associated Press / Lawrence, KS  — Kansas lawmakers have decided that electronic cigarettes should be just as off-limits to people younger than 18 as the real thing, so starting July 1 it will be illegal for minors to buy or possess the vapor-emitting version in the state. The Legislature passed the ban last month, and Gov. Sam Brownback recently signed the measure. The law defines electronic cigarettes as a battery-powered device that can provide inhaled doses of nicotine through a vaporized solution. Todd Thompson, Leavenworth County prosecutor, told the Lawrence Journal-World that school resource officers had expressed concerns about students who possessed e-cigarettes, some of which were designed like pens or... Read More