Local cigar bars are flaring up after a Lancaster County judge’s ruling that certain exemptions to Nebraska’s smoking ban are unconstitutional. The law took effect June 1, 2009. Judge Jodi Nelson said she agrees with the law’s exception for research facilities. But she said cigar bars, hotels and tobacco shops aren’t different enough from other workplaces to warrant special treatment. For the time being, cigar shops are still al ... Jump to full article >>

So long, cigar bars and hotel smoking rooms. Maybe. A Lincoln judge has ruled that certain exceptions to the statewide smoking ban — specifically those that allow smoking in cigar bars, tobacco stores and some hotel rooms — are unconstitutional special treatment for those businesses. The finding likely will be appealed as early as Thursday. “I’m just confident that will be the case,” said Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbau ... Jump to full article >>

Jane Jones, Muskogee Against Tobacco program coordinator, says that when discussing the impact of tobacco use, the focus often turns to its tragic health effects and loss of life. However, every business and citizen in Muskogee County also bears a financial burden. Tobacco-Free Oklahoma Week, which runs through Sunday, highlights these burdens. The Oklahoma State Department of Health reports that the average Oklahoma business loses $3,734 each y ... Jump to full article >>

As Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S (STG) awaits anti-trust approval on acquiring Lane Ltd. from Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), STG executive vice president, Christian Hother Sorensen, took time from his busy Denmark day to talk to Tobacco E-News about the company’s plans. Under terms of the transaction, expected to close in the first half of 2011, STG has agreed to pay $205 million in cash for Tucker, Ga.-based Lane. The deal, Sorensen said, ... Jump to full article >>

W. Curtis Draper Tobacconist, the oldest tobacco shop in the District, has acquired Bethesda Tobacco for an undisclosed sum. Draper owners John Anderson and Matt Krimm announced the deal Tuesday, saying they will rename Bethesda Tobacco as W. Curtis Draper Bethesda. They bought the store, 4916 Del Ray Ave., from current owner Michael Copperman. Bethesda Tobacco opened in 1994. W. Curtis Draper, at 14th and G streets NW, has been in business sinc ... Jump to full article >>

An Omaha business is sending hundreds of cigars, many donated by customers, to troops in Iraq. Nickleby’s Cigar Ring manager Tim Vanderpool sent out messages on email and Facebook, telling customers his store would match every cigar they donated to troops. “I’ve got some friends over there, in the 67th Cavalry,” explained Vanderpool. “We just decided to give them something to boost their morale and lift them up.” Vanderpool said ... Jump to full article >>

Anyone who thinks smoking isn’t government’s business should consider one number: 3.5 million. That’s how many people in the second-biggest economy will die each year from tobacco use by 2030, according to a report by prominent Chinese health experts and economists. More than lives will go up in smoke. So will productivity, public money and growth. China immediately should raise cigarette prices, increase health awareness and ban smoking i ... Jump to full article >>

THE tobacco industry has launched a backdoor attack on legislation to make plain packaging of cigarettes compulsory, using a regional free trade agreement to which Australia is expected to become a signatory. Philip Morris has used Australia’s plain-packaging laws, scheduled to come into effect next year, to argue the need for ”investor state” provisions in the upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. This would allow comp ... Jump to full article >>

Winston-Salem, NC — Reynolds American is reducing its workforce in the city by asking 1,400 manufacturing employees to take a severance package. Reynolds American is the parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and announced the severance offer on Wednesday. Spokeswoman Maura Payne said the employees have until Jan. 31 to take the offer. In 2009, about 400 employees took a severance package offered by the company. Payne said the package ... Jump to full article >>

COURTLAND — Life after tobacco was on the minds of many a constituent out to see Progressive Conservative MPP Toby Barrett (Haldimand-Norfolk) at his New Year’s levee. “Our area down here has really been kicked in the teeth,” Barrett said. “Our farm economy has taken a beating over the past three or four years.” Barrett said the illegal sale of tobacco supplied by smugglers has brought Norfolk tobacco farmers ... Jump to full article >>