The Irish Cancer Society is urging the Government to increase the tax on cigarettes by €1 in the forthcoming budget in order to fund the fight against tobacco smuggling. The organisation denies that an increase in the price of cigarettes would increase the sale of cheap smuggled tobacco. “High price is not the problem. The problem is that the courts aren’t imposing high enough penalties, there aren’t enough disincentives and a key piece ... Jump to full article >>

Michael Dresden holds high expectations for Washington’s marijuana trade. Dresden’s vision is to use local, sustainable and highly taxed micro-crops of marijuana to eliminate the state’s deficit and fight international terrorism. Despite Dresden’s lofty goals, many may view the twenty-something Vancouver resident as a simple drug dealer with delusions of grandeur. Dresden, whose name and date of birth varied on each of the six Washingto ... Jump to full article >>

FALMOUTH — Voters at last night’s town meeting gave a big thumbs down to those who like to light up on the town’s public beaches. Smoking is no longer allowed on any of the town’s 11 public beaches, following a 128-60 vote that makes Falmouth the third community on the Cape to snuff out smoking on municipal beaches. Proponents of the ban cited litter in the form of errant cigarette butts in the sand, as well as the harm cause ... Jump to full article >>

The University of Florida’s tobacco ban would apply to fraternities and sororities when it takes effect next year, under a proposal released Wednesday by the university. UF banned tobacco use in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium starting this season and on the property of health-related facilities starting Nov. 1. A university-wide ban is planned for July 1. The proposed regulation, which is scheduled to be considered next month by UF trustees, wou ... Jump to full article >>

Mayors Patti York of St. Charles and Pam Fogarty of Dardenne Prairie want St. Charles County voters to decide whether smoking should be banned in restaurants and other public places across the county. The two city leaders weighed in on the issue in separate interviews on their reaction to the successful push in last week’s election for a smoking ban in St. Louis County. “I think it was the right way to do it, take it to the public,” York ... Jump to full article >>

Customs officers have seized a multi-million euro shipment of smuggled tobacco in Co Monaghan. Eight tonnes of tobacco leaf believed destined for a cigarette-making plant in the Border area was discovered in the operation yesterday, along with paraphenalia for manufacturing cigarettes such as filters and packaging material. Customs officials estimated the revenue at risk from the haul, which could have been used to make 12 million cigarettes, wa ... Jump to full article >>

IMPLEMENTATION of a project designed to boost the monitoring of cigarette firms’ tax payments is targeted to start in the first half of next year. In a briefing for the House of Representatives ways and means committee yesterday, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Deputy Commissioner for Information Systems Lilia C. Guillermo said that the project, which was proposed by Swiss project developer SICPA Product Security SA in October 2007, will be s ... Jump to full article >>

South Dakotans could knowthe fate of the statewide smoking ban by the end of the week. Both sides of the ban will be heading to Pierre Thursday to dispute the nearly ten thousand petition signatures that were thrown out, keeping the issue off next November’s ballot. In July supporters of the smoking ban were able to get the Secretary of State to throw out nearly ten thousand names on the petition turned in by opponents of the ban. Bar and ... Jump to full article >>

In Pennsylvania, it’s been more than a year since a smoking ban took effect in most businesses and public places and the law’s supporters welcome evidence that it will result in better health conditions. A major report, released by the Institute of Medicine last month, confirmed what health officials long have believed: Bans on smoking in restaurants, bars and other gathering spots reduce the risk of heart attacks among nonsmokers. & ... Jump to full article >>

In 1999 the BBC reported that Tobacco companies had developed 57 ways to make cigarettes safer but had chosen not to use the technology. Electronic cigarettes appear to have done all of them with their first iteration and only continue to get better. Online PR News – 10-November-2009 – At the time it was believed that the tobacco companies did not want to market the improvements and make cigarettes safer as it would force them to acknowledge ... Jump to full article >>