LINCOLN, Neb. — A bill that would create a way for Nebraska to collect tobacco tax revenue from Native American tribes advanced Wednesday through a first-round legislative vote. The measure would call for state officials to reach compacts with tribes so they could collect money to comply with a national legal settlement with the four largest U.S. tobacco companies. At stake is $46 million in settlement money for health care expenses. The f ... Jump to full article >>

BEIJING — China launches a ban on smoking in indoor public spaces Sunday but the effort is widely viewed as vague and half-hearted and few expect it to have much of an impact in the tobacco-addicted country. The nationwide prohibition is designed to bring China — which has more than 300 million smokers, roughly equal to the entire population of the United States — more in line with health regulations in developed countries. But it ... Jump to full article >>

Dinosaurs covered in ashtrays and a website targeting teenage smokers are the key components of Year 1 of a five-year provincial tobacco strategy released Wednesday. The strategy calls for other types of action later on. They include immediate penalties for retailers who sell cigarettes to minors, persuading the federal government to change tobacco packaging, legislation to back no-smoking policies on hospital and school grounds, and looking a ... Jump to full article >>

The government has unveiled the latest step in its plans to help rid Britain’s streets of illicit smuggled tobacco. In addition to a £917m funding boost – which will allow for the recruitment of new officers at both the UK Border Agency and Trading Standards authorities – the government’s refreshed Tackling Tobacco Smuggling (TTS) strategy also outlines plans to reduce traveller allowances. At present the minimum indicative lev ... Jump to full article >>

Cigarette maker Lorillard says its net income increased 7 percent in the first quarter as it sold more Newport and Maverick cigarettes at higher prices. Lorillard says it earned $248 million, or $1.71 per share, for the period ended March 31. That’s up from $232 million, or $1.50 per share, a year ago. The per-share figure was boosted by a lower number of shares outstanding. The nation’s third-biggest tobacco company says revenue exc ... Jump to full article >>

A legislative bill calling for the state to negotiate with Native American tribes to make payments on cigarette sales so Nebraska can continue to receive millions of dollars through a national tobacco settlement got first-round approval Wednesday. Senators voted 38-0 to advance the measure, which faces two more rounds of consideration. Since 2003, the state has received $280 million to $300 million from the four largest tobacco companies as part ... Jump to full article >>

An estimated 4,000 people each year in California die from secondhand smoke, according to Santa Clara County Department of Public Health officials, who kicked off an ad campaign Tuesday to warn people about the dangers of secondhand smoke. The campaign was announced at a news conference April 26 with county Supervisor Ken Yeager and Campbell Mayor Jason Baker, who said that as a father of two kids, he is especially concerned about the impact of ... Jump to full article >>

The cost of cutting cigarette taxes by a dime, as the House of Representative would like, will undoubtedly cost New Hampshire much more than the loss of $9 million in revenue. Encouraging smoking by reducing the cost will pose a significant and long-term health-care cost to the state, especially as it relates to pregnant women and children. Consider that the first-year medical costs alone of a premature birth are about 10 times greater ($32,325) ... Jump to full article >>

A FRANKSTON trader is urging other angry shop owners to join him in a legal class action against Frankston Council over its smoking ban – which has become permanent in the trial zone and may be greatly extended. Glen Cooper, of Cooper’s Patisserie in Shannon Street Mall, told the Weekly that he and neighbouring coffee shop and juice bar proprietors have suffered substantial loss of trade since the council introduced its smoke-free ou ... Jump to full article >>

PUBLIC health experts say a campaign that links plain cigarette packaging with children buying ”chop chop” – unbranded loose tobacco – from criminal gangs is grossly misleading and indicative of a desperate industry. The Association of Australian Retailers, which is bankrolled by big tobacco, has been running advertisements claiming children as young as 14 are smoking illegal tobacco smuggled by ”highly organised cr ... Jump to full article >>