SALEM — Anti-smoking lawmakers clashed with Oregon’s top tobacco lobbyist Thursday over proposals to raise cigarette taxes by as much as $2 a pack. Supporters, including Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, a former health researcher, said the proposed increases are less about raising more money for the state than getting people to quit the habit, or not start. R.J. Reynolds lobbyist Mark Nelson and the head of Plaid Pantry attacked the ... Jump to full article >>

The R.J. Reynolds tobacco company is taking its dissolvable tobacco products off the shelves in its American test markets, according to a Dec. 17 email from the Ohio-based Drug Free Action Alliance. The products — Camel Sticks, Strips, and Orbs — were being tested in Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, Ind., and Portland, Ore. According to a letter from R.J. Reynolds (PDF), the products were removed for “further refinements.” T ... Jump to full article >>

She’s the essence of propriety as a criminal case specialist at Quincy District Court, where few would imagine she once reigned as Miss Boston Tobacco. “That was me,” Carol Earley quipped, laughing. “Young and stupid.” Late in her teens, she had been hired by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to oversee distribution of sample packs of cigarettes, specifically within the city’s collegiate population. “All the big companies, Lorillard, P ... Jump to full article >>

A Florida appeals court upheld Tuesday the first “Engle” smokers’ lawsuit verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Judges Nikki Clark and T. Kent Wetherell II of the 1st District Court of Appeals let stand the June 2009 decision by a jury in Pensacola, Fla., that awarded $3.3 million in compensation damages and $25 million in punitive damages from Reynolds to the family of Benny Martin. Industry analysts and legal officials sa ... Jump to full article >>

A Bronson, Florida (Levy County) jury today awarded $8 million in compensatory damages and another $72 million in punitive damages against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for its role in the lung cancer death of James Kayce Horner. Mr. Horner, who started smoking at the age of 17 in 1934 (decades before warning labels appeared on cigarette packages), smoked for over 60 years before dying of lung cancer on March 11, 1996, at the age of 78. The jury ... Jump to full article >>

Williamsburg’s hipsters have been smoking for decades — but Joe Camel wants them to start puffing their own neighborhood brand. R.J. Reynolds launched a “Williamsburg” version of Camel smokes last month — in perhaps the most blatant attempt to corner the hipster market since American Apparel opened on N. Sixth Street. But there’s nothing local about this promotional effort. As part of the 10-week “Camel Break Free” promotion, cig ... Jump to full article >>

The leader of Republicans in the House, who is aiming to become Speaker if the GOP wins a majority in November, maintains “extremely tight ties” with lobbyists and former aides who now represent some of the country’s largest companies, according to an article in The New York Times. The alliance between Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, and corporate interests is “business as usual,” The New York Times writes today. The pap ... Jump to full article >>

HARRISBURG, PA. — A Pennsylvania appellate court is siding with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in a lawsuit over advertising that the company ran in Rolling Stone magazine in 2007. The state Commonwealth Court’s Tuesday decision overturned a Philadelphia judge who ordered Reynolds to pay a $302,000 fine or pay for an anti-smoking ad in a Pennsylvania edition of the magazine. At issue was a fold-out Camel ad promoting independent record labels ... Jump to full article >>