A new bill passed last month by the Minnesota Senate and House updates the state’s tobacco laws. It takes effect Aug. 1, 2010. The Tobacco Modernization and Compliance Act of 2010, signed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty in May, makes sure tobacco cessation products won’t be taxed as tobacco products, among other changes. “This is an issue where legislators on both sides of the aisle agreed that more control is needed over these products,&# ... Jump to full article >>

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I lost my dear dad to lung cancer due to cigarettes. He became addicted at age 12. It breaks my heart to know that in 2010, there are stores in my city that are making cigarettes and other tobacco products readily available for youth. Earlier this year our coalition, the Azusa Youth Against Smoking, targeted 48 tobacco retailers in Azusa to identify how many were willing to sell to minors without asking for proper identification. Guess what? Twe ... Jump to full article >>

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An Indonesian mother brought her 2-year-old boy to the nation’s capital seeking help for his addiction — to cigarettes, officials said. A video of the toddler inhaling deeply on a cigarette and blowing smoke rings showed up on the Internet last week, turning him into a local celebrity, CNN reported Sunday. His mother Diana, who like many Indonesians goes by just one name, met at the Jakarta airport with Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indon ... Jump to full article >>

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THESE are the first shocking pictures of smoking toddler Ardi Rizal – who throws tantrums if he can’t puff 40 cigs a day. The Sun told on Saturday how the two-year-old got hooked after dad Mohammed gave him a fag at 18 months. Now he weighs 4st and trundles round on a toy truck blowing smoke rings – too unfit to run with other kids. Mum Diana, 26, wept: “He’s totally addicted. If he doesn’t get cigarettes, he ... Jump to full article >>

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The vandals struck in the middle of the night, hurling Molotov cocktails through the windows of two medical marijuana businesses and spray-painting “NOT IN OUR TOWN” just before the Billings City Council was supposed to take up a ban on any new pot shops. Montana and other states that have legalized medical marijuana are seeing a backlash, with public anger rising and politicians passing laws to slow the proliferation of pot shops and ... Jump to full article >>

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Every lunchtime, Lisa, 14, eats her packed lunch before heading to the tuck shop of her school in Derbyshire. A gap leads to an enclave five metres behind the building, where she and about 15 others congregate to light up their lunchtime cigarette. “There are two non-teaching members of staff who run the tuck shop and if they turned round properly they would catch us all,” she says. “We used to smoke in an alleyway that joined our two playg ... Jump to full article >>

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