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 >>

Cigarettes possibly worth $1 million or more in retail value were stolen during Sunday’s break-in at Federal Warehouse Co. East Peoria police estimate three to five stolen semitrailers were filled with cigarettes during the heist discovered early Sunday afternoon in the building at 200 National Road along Illinois Route 116. The police investigation, which also will involve state and national agencies, on Monday began revealing details of ... Jump to full article >>

Bar and restaurant owners have teamed up with a conservative policy group in an attempt to overturn the state’s smoking ban, approved by voters in 2006. Groups opposing the state smoking ban have taken the fight up a notch, citing evidence of ballot fraud — more than three years after voters approved the ban. Opponents of Ohio Bans said the petition that placed the smoking ban on the 2006 statewide ballot was tainted by numerous irre ... Jump to full article >>

A handful of players on both the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies have played this year’s World Series with a wad of tobacco in their mouths. Have baseball players always used smokeless tobacco? Yes. In the mid-19th century—baseball’s formative years—chewing tobacco was enormously popular in the United States. Early ballplayers likely chewed tobacco for the same reasons as other American men, but they soon discover ... Jump to full article >>