Nearly half the cigarettes sold in Hong Kong are illegal because of high prices, a tobacco concern group claims. The finding was based on an informal “survey” carried out by the Vote Against Tax Hikes Alliance, which rummaged through dozens of trash bins in Lok Fu and Lam Tin public housing estates last month, picking up empty cigarette packages. Of the 200 boxes retrieved, 92 were either from the mainland, or on which duty was not p ... Jump to full article >>

A federal judge on Wednesday unsealed a government proposal that outlines what it wants tobacco companies to say in national advertising and on cigarette packages — that they lied to the American public about so-called light cigarettes and the addictiveness of nicotine. Judge Gladys Kessler of the United States District Court in Washington denied a request by the tobacco companies that the recommendations, by the Justice Department, be kept se ... Jump to full article >>

OTTAWA — Nova Scotia’s chief public health officer blasted Health Canada Thursday for unilaterally suspending a plan to update health warnings on cigarette packages that were scheduled to be rolled out this month. Parliamentarians probing why the Conservative government has to date, failed to follow through on a long-running plan to force tobacco companies to put larger, more graphic health warnings on cigarette packs also heard that Hea ... Jump to full article >>

Health Canada’s abrupt decision in September to back down from expanding warning labels on cigarette packages came after tobacco company lobbyists waged a co-ordinated, sometimes secretive lobbying campaign. An analysis by CBC News of lobby registry filings and other documents reveals tobacco executives and their paid lobbyists communicated dozens of times with key government ministries and their policy advisers, including the Prime Minist ... Jump to full article >>

Nicotine addicts intimidated by the warnings and unsightly pictures on cigarette packages have new options available to them. The warning packages, produced due to government rules and regulations, are meant to deter consumers from smoking. Most of the pictures on cigarette packages belong to unhealthy people who claim they lost their health because of their addiction to cigarettes. The visual warnings, however, have allegedly caused problems, a ... Jump to full article >>