Electronic cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular among people who want to quit smoking, but an opinion piece released Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine highlights the potential hazards of e-cigarettes, suggesting they may not be as benign as they may seem. E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that allow users to inhale a vapor that contains nicotine and supposedly fewer toxins than real cigarettes. In studies, health-r ... Jump to full article >>

Japanese retailers have experienced a bit of a rush recently—of the nicotine variety. An increase in tobacco tax added around 100 yen ($1.20) to the price of a pack of 20 cigarettes at midnight on Thursday, sucking the nation’s smokers into stores earlier in the week to stock up on cartons of their favourite fix beforehand. Convenience store managers have aggressively advertised the price hike for weeks, hoping that nicotine-addicts will bu ... Jump to full article >>

One out of three teenagers younger than 18 mistakenly identified a new type of smokeless tobacco product as candy or gum in a survey conducted by a Virginia tobacco-prevention group. Conducted last year by student volunteers with the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, the survey asked about 1,400 people, including 728 younger than 18, to identify package images for several types of novel, smokeless tobacco products, along with package images ... Jump to full article >>

New research suggests that a set length of time for using the nicotine patch may not work for all smokers trying to kick the habit. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have already discovered that some people — about three-quarters of smokers — break down (metabolize) nicotine more quickly from the patches than other people do. These people may do better by taking drugs like bupropion (Zyban). And in the new stud ... Jump to full article >>

Nicotine pellets — flavored with cinnamon or mint — resemble candy and may result in accidental nicotine poisoning in children, U.S. researchers said. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. produces dissolvable Camel Orbs, which promotional literature says contains 1 milligram of nicotine per pellet as well as Camel Strips, which contain 0.6 mg of nicotine per strip and Sticks, which contain 3.1 mg of nicotine per strip. The products, sold as tob ... Jump to full article >>

Kadima MK Yoel Hasson tabled a private member’s bill on Monday that, if passed, would be the world’s first law barring the sale of tobacco products containing addictive substances such as nicotine, or other substances, such as menthol and ammonia, that make nicotine more addictive, The Jerusalem Post has learned. If tobacco were not addictive, the smoking rate would quickly decline (from the present 23 percent). People already addicted to ni ... Jump to full article >>

An Idaho senator whose husband is a tobacco-company lobbyist snuffed out a bill Monday to ban the industry’s latest product. Sen. Melinda Smyser, R-Parma, changed her vote after members of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee initially voted 5-4 for a bill that would bar dissolvable tobacco lozenges, strips and sticks now being tested by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Another company is already selling such lozenges here. Smyser’s swit ... Jump to full article >>

The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to protect the public’s health and safety. So why is it trying to block the sale of an electronic alternative to cigarettes that can save people’s lives by simulating smoking without burning tobacco? Electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes, are battery-powered devices that deliver nicotine in a vapor composed mainly of the food additive propylene glycol. There’s no question ... Jump to full article >>

Guilford County may have banned smoking from area bars and restaurants at the first of the year, but technology is giving county health officials and other anti-smoking advocates fits. “E-cigs” – also known as “electronic cigarettes” – are becoming the nicotine dispenser of choice now that smoking traditional cigarettes has been declared illegal in most public buildings. Electronic cigarettes are meant to simulate the ... Jump to full article >>

Introduction It’s not easy to quit smoking. The nicotine in cigarettes is addicting. Your body craves it because it makes you feel good. So when you try to stop smoking, you go through nicotine withdrawal. You feel awful, and you may worry about gaining weight. You get cranky and anxious. It can be hard to sleep. You’re not the only one. Most people feel bad when they try to quit. The hardest part is not reaching for a smoke to feel ... Jump to full article >>