Tweet Mayor Bloomberg wants to raise to 21 the age for buying cigarettes in New York City, in hopes a higher minimum age discourages young people from smoking. He’d have done better to look at what we know about how and why youngsters start smoking in the first place. Very few teens buy cigarettes at a retail outlet; the overwhelming majority (95 percent) get their tobacco from friends or family. So the retail accessibility of tobacco is largel ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet ‘It’s easy to quit smoking – I’ve done it hundreds of times.” This oft-quoted bit of wit, attributed to Mark Twain, gets right to the heart of the matter: Deciding to kick the habit is a breeze, but sticking with the decision is an entirely different story. Most who actually manage to end up as former smokers do so only after several failed attempts. These days, though, there are ways to ease the burden. Nicotine-replacement produ ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State senators will discuss legislation that would ban smoking in Iowa casinos. A Senate subcommittee was scheduled to discuss the proposal Tuesday. Casinos were exempted from Iowa’s Smokefree Air Act when it passed in 2008. Democratic Sen. Jack Hatch, who has supported efforts to expand the ban, says it would be a public health benefit. But he questioned whether the bill would have much support in the Le ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) – Smoking while driving with a child in the car could be a thing of the past in Virginia. State Senator Ralph Northam (D-VA), who represents parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, has introduced a new bill in Congress that would subject anyone who smokes in a car with a child inside of it to a $100 fine. A similar bill died in the House last week and most think this bill could suffer the same fate. Pediatricians a ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet IN February 2004, Uganda banned smoking in public places. This followed the December 2002 High Court declaration that smoking in public places was a violation of non-smokers’ constitutional rights to life and to a clean and healthy environment. The perpetuators were to pay a fine of sh20,000 and hotel owners, who allowed customers to smoke on their premises, would pay sh300,000. However, 10 years down the road what do we see? In places l ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet HIV treatments are so effective today that people who are diagnosed and treated early can expect a near-normal lifespan. A new study however finds that won’t be the case if the patient is a smoker. The study, published Dec. 19 in Clinical Infectious Diseases, suggests programs to encourage patients to quit smoking should be integrated in HIV care, according to its authors. “Our findings emphasize the importance of counseling HIV ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Kristen Stewart has reportedly stubbed out her cigarettes for good in a bid to please her beau Robert Pattinson. The reunited pair are said to be trying to get healthy together and after the British actor cut out the cigarettes, his Twilight co-star has apparently followed his lead. An insider told Perez Hilton that the Kristen wants to support her boyfriend and so is quitting smoking too. “Kristen and Rob used to smoke cigarettes togeth ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet You might not expect Russia, the world’s second-biggest cigarette market, where 42% of the population smokes, to be thinking of limiting the vice. Yet the country is mulling “smoke-free” measures that would ban tobacco ads, boost taxes on cigarettes and prohibit smoking in public places across the country by 2015. Public smoking bans are spreading in many emerging economies. Cigarette firms could once rely on these markets to prop up ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio higher education officials plan a vote Monday urging the state’s public campuses to ban tobacco use. That would include Ohio State, one of the nation’s largest universities, which currently bans only indoor smoking. Bans on the use, advertising and sales of tobacco in all its forms are being enacted or considered at perhaps half of campuses nationwide, sometimes over the objections of student smokers, ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet The CDC here in Atlanta a few days ago issued a news report indicating the new scary non-smoking ad is having its effects on smokers. The ad shows a woman without fingers and a man without his lower legs indicating that these were caused by smoking. Buerger’s disease is a disease caused when the arteries and the veins become blocked and causes infection, which can result in amputation. Virtually, everyone diagnosed with this disease used ... Jump to full article >>