Tweet If not immediately, then sometime soon Mississippi legislators need to plug a hole that gives plug tobacco, other forms of tobacco and off-brand cigarettes an unfair pricing advantage. Gov. Haley Barbour has said he might include supplemental tobacco fees in a special session call, perhaps this week. We won’t know until the governor — who has the power to control topics when lawmakers meet outside their regular dates — prepares his le ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Bar owners resisting the smoking ban in the Netherlands have received financial, strategical and legal support from tobacco companies, research by NRC Handelsblad shows. Ton Wurtz, treasurer of the foundation ‘Red de kleine horecaondernemer’ (Save the small hospitality entrepreneur), has admitted to receiving “about 50,000 euros per year” from the tobacco companies. Wurtz also holds biweekly strategy talks with Will ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet By Philip J. Goscienski, M.D – The Stone Age Doc Almost everyone is aware that cigarette smoking is a health hazard. Most people know that genetic factors play a role in disease. Few realize how these interact and how pregnancy sometimes depends on the interplay of lifestyle factors and the genetic makeup of the mother. A pregnant mother’s lifestyle choices can lead to serious disease notonly in her infant’s early childhood b ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Chris Cheung?s Hong Kong mahjong parlour is notable for two things: the incessant clatter of playing tiles and the thick fog of cigarette smoke shrouding the stony-faced gamblers. “People come here to play and to smoke,” said Cheung. “It?s always been the tradition to do both together.” For everyone involved here — from the staff ferrying free drinks and cigarettes to the players themselves — the marriage ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Matt Pommer The idea solicited guffaws from older members when it was introduced by a new member in the state Senate in 1963. It seemed to fly against the habits of most citizens. The U.S. Surgeon General’s warning had not yet been heard. Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, wanted to ban tobacco sales to people under age 16. The idea that year got only one vote — his — in a committee test. This year Gov. Jim Doyle signed a statewide Clean In ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Ten years ago, I was the doctor for an 18-year-old with cystic fibrosis whose mother was a heavy smoker. The patient told me how she coughed, wheezed, and choked when she was at home. I became close with her; it seemed she was always in the hospital, and I couldn’t help but think it was because she wanted to escape a toxic environment. Three years later, at 21, she died—more than 14 years before a person with cystic fibrosis could b ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet KIRKWOOD — A group that wants the city to ban smoking in indoor public places on Friday gave officials petitions that would start an initiative process that could put the proposal on the ballot. The petitions contain 1,258 signatures, said Mary Murphy-Overmann, president of Healthy Air for Kirkwood, sponsor of the initiative. Anti-smoking supporters needed 1,036 signatures to start the initiative process. The petitions went to the St. Lou ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet If you got a chance to visit an antiques store in China, snuff bottles may be one item of interest to you. They were used by the Chinese people during the Qing Dynasty to store powdered tobacco. It soon became an object of beauty and a way to represent social status. What arouses the most interest are the pictures painted from the inside. The delightful and varied scenes only cover an area of an inch or two and are painted using a brush ins ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet By Pamela McLoughlin, Register Staff MILFORD — The city Health Department has ordered the Olive Tree Hookah Lounge to close, following an inspection of the premises on opening night Friday by city sanitarians. Health Director Dennis McBride, saying the practice is like a “cigarette plus,” said Saturday he based the order on the health hazards the practice presents. McBride said the owners have a right to appeal to the state, but he in ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet The duty-free group has urged the industry to contact governments in the final days before talks begin on the World Health Organization illicit trade protocol The European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) has issued a final rallying call for the duty-free industry to contact governments in the days leading up to the third round of negotiations on the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) protocol on illici ... Jump to full article >>