Given the sad economy, increasing South Carolina’s cigarette tax offers lawmakers the best opportunity to get their hands on a pot of new money next fiscal year. The Legislature should hike the measly 7-cent tax — the nation’s lowest — and use it to support health care for needy South Carolinians. Already, new cigarette tax proposals are emerging. State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex, a Democratic gubernatorial candid ... Jump to full article >>

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

The evolution of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. may be shaped in large part by how well it can live down — and learn from — its past. Reynolds received another clear example of that reality last week when the Food and Drug Administration requested research on the company’s three innovative dissolvable smokeless products — Camel Orbs, Camel Sticks and Camel Strips — and others being considered. The Tobacco Products Scienti ... Jump to full article >>

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Scientists have found a ‘Peter Pan gene’ that could explain why some people remain baby-faced while others become old before their time. Millions of Britons are blessed with DNA that makes them look up to eight years younger than their peers. The research – the first to definitively link genetic changes to ageing – could be why Cliff Richard and Paul McCartney look significantly younger than Mick Jagger, despite both being ... Jump to full article >>

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

A new study offers yet more proof that smoking is a major risk factor for death from heart disease and cancer. Researchers followed 12,152 American and European male and female smokers, formers smokers and nonsmokers for three years. During that time, current smokers were 4.16 times more likely to die of cancer, 2.26 times more likely to die of heart disease and 2.58 times more likely to die from any cause than were former or nonsmokers. Current ... Jump to full article >>

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

If anyone objected to the bartender smoking behind the bar of St Julian’s Labour Club in the early hours of yesterday morning, they would not have had to go far to inform a police officer. St Julian’s police station is just next door, and there was an officer in uniform drinking at the bar. The problem was, he was smoking as well. Smoking in enclosed public spaces in Malta was banned nearly six years ago, but you would not know it if ... Jump to full article >>

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

For years, buying low-tax North Carolina cigarettes and selling them on the black market in a high-tax state up north has been an easy way to make big money for criminal enterprises. Load up a van of Camels or Marlboros and reap a $100,000 profit to sell them if the destination is New York City, which has a $1.50-per-pack excise tax in addition to the $2.75 state cigarette tax. “The cigarette tax evasion stampede is out of control,” s ... Jump to full article >>

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!