Almost half of Victoria’s cigarette smokers still light up around children, despite an increase over the last decade in the number of homes that enforce a no-smoking policy. New research released today by the Cancer Council Victoria found significant improvement in the efforts of parents to keep tobacco smoke away from their kids. In 1998 just over half of surveyed households had home smoking bans, but in the latest survey just under three ... Jump to full article >>

LOS ANGELES — It may soon be even more difficult for smokers in the City of Los Angeles to light up outside. A new, strict, outdoor smoking ordinance is gaining support at City Hall. A city council committee expressed support Tuesday for the ban, but ordered several changes to the ordinance before sending it to the full council for approval. The council could consider the measure as early as next month. City code already prohibits smoking ... Jump to full article >>

PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) — If you don’t like the rules in one county, just move to the county next door. Leaders in Nitro are hoping to move out from under the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department and merge with the Putnam County Health Department. This move is due to the Kanawha County smoking ban and Tri-State Racetrack and Casino’s claim that it’s costing them millions. Nitro passed an ordinance a couple of months a ... Jump to full article >>

A new research study being published in the October 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry suggests that maternal smoking may increase the level of distress of newborns. Studies have consistently found that prenatal cigarette smoke exposure is associated with increased rates of behavior problems, irritability, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, the risk of violent offenses, conduct disorder, adolescent onset of drug dependence, and the risk ... Jump to full article >>

After a marathon session of debates and amendments on Friday, city aldermen approved a bill banning smoking in most bars and restaurants. The bill, approved 20-7, would ban indoor smoking — with several key exceptions — contingent on St. Louis County voters approving a similar ban on the Nov. 3 ballot. That vote, in effect, will decide the smoking ban issue for much of the region. The plan passed at City Hall, like the county version, exempt ... Jump to full article >>

Connecticut and other states are taking aim at electronic cigarettes, a battery-powered device with vaporized nicotine, officials said. “We’re actively investigating these companies and their products,” Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told USA Today in a story published Monday. Public health officials in California, Oregon, New Hampshire and New Jersey said the smokeless devices are the latest thing in the toba ... Jump to full article >>

What a difference two weeks makes. While at the October 6 Senatobia Aldermen meeting it appeared that Mayor Alan Callicott may have had support for his proposed smoking ban, the October 20 meeting told a different story. At the earlier meeting, Callicott had provided the board members with a copy of the smoking ordinance adopted by Hernando last year, and asked them to consider such a ban for Senatobia. Alderman at Large Don Clanton started the ... Jump to full article >>

The state Senate Standing Committee on Investigations and Government Operations on Tuesday is holding a hearing in New York City on the state’s failure to collect taxes on sales of cigarettes sold by Indian-owned retailers to non-Indian customers. Despite clear laws on the books for year, Indian-owned retail outlets, such as the convenience stores in Union Springs and Seneca Falls owned by the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York, have refused ... Jump to full article >>

“I LOVE matches.” That’s how Dona Savitsky, a former smoker, accounted for the dainty tray of insignia matchboxes at the entrance to Flora, the restaurant she and a partner opened in Oakland, Calif., two years ago. The objects of her specific adoration are blue-and-silver boxes, shaped like a lipstick (also known in the trade as an ascot), each of which contains 22 blue-tipped wooden strikes. Bearing Flora’s Art Deco logo, the matchboxes ... Jump to full article >>

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge in Texas has been assigned to preside over an Alabama attorney’s lawsuit that alleges imprisoned attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs and several others conspired to defraud him of millions in legal fees. On Friday, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edith H. Jones ordered William Roberts Wilson Jr.’s case reassigned to U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston, Texas. ... Jump to full article >>