Santa Clara County supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved the final piece in a package of tobacco laws aimed at snuffing out teenage smoking. The board approved an ordinance requiring tobacco retailers in unincorporated areas of the county to pay $425 for a year for a permit. They also must abide by restrictions on advertising tobacco products and not allow underaged employees to sell them. The law also requires a one-time $340 permit applicat ... Jump to full article >>

The University of the Philippines College of Law is prodding the Aquino administration to adopt a uniform tax structure on tobacco products to jack up state revenues and make cigarettes less affordable to the youth. In a policy paper co-written by HealthJustice, the law school said the immediate step involves removing the price classification freeze and reducing the number of tiers from four to three. The second step further reduces the number o ... Jump to full article >>

It’s been four years to the day since Hawaii enacted a law that banned smoking from almost all workplaces, and still the law remains largely unenforced today. In the months leading up to Nov. 16, 2006, the day the law took effect, businesses statewide scrambled to put up signs and move benches and ash-tray covered trash bins 20 feet away from any entrance or window. The penalty for not complying: Hundreds of dollars in fines for business and p ... Jump to full article >>

PANAJI: Tourists sitting in shacks or strolling on the beach and blowing smoke rings of charas, ganja or tobacco had better beware. North Goa police have initiated a drive in the coastal belt and are booking persons smoking in public places in violation of the provisions of the Indian Tobacco Control Act, 2003, that aims at curbing smoking in public places in order to protect individuals from the hazards of second-hand tobacco smoke. Police are ... Jump to full article >>

Councilman Donald Huseman, R-1st, is still fuming about the recently passed clean air ordinance. On Monday he again asked the Democratic majority if they would consider talking about exemptions for the comprehensive smoking ban. “I have to bring up the clean air ordinance again,” Huseman said, adding the officials have opened a “can of worms” by passing such a comprehensive smoking ban without any exemptions. Huseman said ... Jump to full article >>

TOBACCO companies will be banned from donating to political parties in NSW in the latest deal between the Greens and Labor on election funding reform. The Greens MP John Kaye will move to include the ban in a bill already before Parliament that seeks to overhaul the system of political donations and election spending in the state. The proposal is supported by the Premier, Kristina Keneally, meaning it is set to be in place before the election in ... Jump to full article >>

Wellington, Nov 5 NZPA – Tobacco retailers are up in arms over the Government’s latest moves to curb smoking, saying it will cost $50 million to change their shops and hide cigarettes. Tobacco displays are going to be banned when law changes are passed and there could be more moves when the Government reacts in February to a select committee report, released on Wednesday, recommending strict measures aimed at halving smoking by 2015 ... Jump to full article >>

The government has decided not to discuss a hike in cigarette prices this year due to opposition from lawmakers. The Ministry of Health and Welfare is not seeking to raise cigarette prices or revise the related law, an official said Tuesday. “We have to revise the law to increase cigarette prices. However, the mood at the National Assembly is negative about the price increase. Further discussions would not be made within the year,” the offic ... Jump to full article >>

The New Zealand Association of Convenience Stores (NZACS) today commented on the Report into the tobacco industry by the Maori Affairs Select Committee saying it supports recommendations to increase penalties for selling tobacco to minors, but can’t support recommendations that force significant costs onto retailers. “NZACS has said all along that a relatively simple solution was available – that of greater enforcement of existing tobacco ... Jump to full article >>

Vote yes on Proposition 19, the measure to legalize marijuana, and the unofficial state weed and largest cash crop will be controlled like alcohol, police will focus on serious crimes and California will get billions of dollars in new taxes. That’s the pitch proponents make. “It’s a jumbled legal nightmare,” opponents retort, disputing those claims and insisting that the measure would lead to stoned nurses in hospitals, d ... Jump to full article >>