REGINA – It’s no April Fool’s joke — the Saskatchewan government is banning the sale of tobacco and tobacco-related products in pharmacies. The ban is effective Thursday, April 1, and the fine for breaking the law is $500. Selling tobacco or tobacco-related products will also be prohibited in a retail store, if a pharmacy is located in that store or if customers of a pharmacy can directly access the area in which tobacco pro ... Jump to full article >>

A federal panel ruled on Friday that the removal of menthol cigarettes from sale would be beneficial to United States public health, but fell short of recommending such action. The chairman of the panel, Dr. Jonathan Samet, professor of medicine at the University of Southern California, said there was a scientific basic to support the proposition that menthol cigarettes were more deleterious than regular ones. The risk, the panel said, was not t ... Jump to full article >>

Six-year-old Alon gets a daily allowance of P20 for food and school supplies. With that she can buy either a stick of banana-cue and one cup of juice, or a small bag of chips and 10 pieces of candy, or 2 kiddie cigarette packs, with each pack containing 5 cigarette sticks. That’s how shockingly affordable cigarettes are to kids these days. Coupled with a weak implementation of the law prohibiting sale to minors, it’s no wonder why at least o ... Jump to full article >>

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today ordered a ban on the sale of tobacco products like gutkha and pan masala in plastic pouches from March 2011, while asking the government to conduct a survey on the ill effects of these products within eight weeks. A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly also asked the manufacturers to explore and decide by March next year on the alternative material for packaging them. The bench issued the directions ... Jump to full article >>

The boss of Punch Taverns, Britain’s biggest pub company, called time on his nine-year tenure and walked away from the debt-laden business. Giles Thorley, a lawyer and banker before he went into the business, personally made tens of millions of pounds from Punch in the pre-recession boom, but the company – which has a stockmarket value of £540m – is now hobbled by a debt mountain of more than £3.5bn. Shares in Punch, which have provi ... Jump to full article >>

Price controls on cigarette sale are a good move, albeit three years late, Fomca secretary-general Muhammad Shaani Abdullah said. “Although the move was delayed for three years, we are happy that the Government is implementing it,” he said. According to Muhammad Shaani, price controls were among the commitments required to be implemented by signatories to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which ... Jump to full article >>

Legislation proposed to prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors and include e-cigarettes in the state’s Smoke Free Air Act, which prohibits smoking in indoor public places and workplaces, was unanimously approved Monday by an Assembly panel. Assemblywoman Connie Wagner (D-Bergen), a co-sponsor, said she’s concerned e-cigarettes are being marketed to children because they offer flavors like chocolate, banana and strawber ... Jump to full article >>

The Irish Cancer Society is urging the Government to increase the tax on cigarettes by €1 in the forthcoming budget in order to fund the fight against tobacco smuggling. The organisation denies that an increase in the price of cigarettes would increase the sale of cheap smuggled tobacco. “High price is not the problem. The problem is that the courts aren’t imposing high enough penalties, there aren’t enough disincentives and a key piece ... Jump to full article >>

Bid for minimum excise duty on tobacco as duty per 1,000 cigarettes could rise to €90. EU finance ministers will next week (11 November) try to agree an increase in the minimum rates of excise duty on cigarettes and other tobacco products. The proposal under discussion would raise the minimum excise rate to €90 per 1,000 cigarettes, compared to €64 today. The legislation would also close loopholes that have allowed companies to market ciga ... Jump to full article >>

Richard and Donna Ganguet live in the Four Seasons gated development in El Dorado Hills. They say the neighbor’s tobacco smoke settles in their backyard and seeps in through their windows. Conflict with neighbors was the last thing Donna and Richard Ganguet expected to encounter when they moved into a gated community for people age 55 and older. “In a senior community, you think we’ll all be compatible and have the same values ... Jump to full article >>