They claim to be an “alternative to smoking,” but how safe are the new electronic cigarettes? The battery-operated cigarettes are not FDA approved. The government agency has even stated that some of the chemicals found in the products may be harmful to the user. This is partly why the Grand Traverse County Health Department is warning the public not to be fooled. The department is speaking out after a billboard went up on M-72 in Tra ... Jump to full article >>

The Ministry of Health has given the clearest signal yet that the Government is likely to increase the tobacco tax to help reduce the number of people who smoke. Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia, who sits outside the Cabinet, last year spoke supportively of tobacco tax increases in a speech that has put pressure on the Government on a range of tobacco policies. Increasing the tax was “worth exploring if we are genuine about wanting ... Jump to full article >>

The American Cancer Society is suing the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, claiming a recently passed measure allowing smoking in some convention areas violates the Nevada Constitution. The Cancer Society’s Great West Division and its Cancer Action Network filed the complaint against the convention authority, Nevada State Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and public health officials over a revision to the Nevada Clean Indo ... Jump to full article >>

“We were able to show that children who are exposed to tobacco smoke prenatally and during the first years of life have a higher risk of developing abnormal behavioral symptoms when they are of school age,” said Dr. Joachim Heinrich of the Institute of Epidemiology at Helmholtz Zentrum München. “Moreover, it makes a difference whether the child was exposed to tobacco smoke first after birth or was already confronted with it du ... Jump to full article >>

WOMEN in Scotland are failing to improve their health at the same rate as men and may not continue to outlive them for much longer, according to Scotland’s leading doctor. Men are giving up smoking in their thousands and exercising more, meaning they will live for seven more years, on average, compared with 1980. But while women still have a greater life expectancy than men, the gap is narrowing, as many continue to smoke and lead less hea ... Jump to full article >>

Five minutes on Moscow’s streets would be enough to convince any visitor that smoking is a way of life here. Every second person seems to be holding a cigarette. Waiting to cross the street at a traffic light, cigarette in hand, Sergei Golikov says people should feel free to light up wherever they want. “It’s everyone’s personal decision,” he says. “If he wants to smoke fine, if not, fine. No one’s forci ... Jump to full article >>

AFP – Growing stress from the economic slump led South Koreans to smoke and drink more last year, a news report said Monday, quoting a health ministry survey. The survey found 47.7 percent of male adults and 7.4 percent of female adults smoking last year, up from 45 and 5.3 percent respectively a year earlier. Some 74.6 percent of males and 44.9 percent of females drank twice or more a month last year, up from 73.5 and 41.5 percent a year ... Jump to full article >>

Re “Ex-smoker wins tobacco lawsuit”: In 1968, Ms. Naugle took up smoking, allegedly unaware that smoking cigarettes is addictive and harmful to a smoker’s health. I remember my beloved grandmother admonishing me in 1946, or was it 1947, to never smoke: “Young man, don’t you ever smoke; it’s a dirty, unhealthy, expensive habit!” Furthermore, from 1965 on, all packages of cigarettes carried the warning lab ... Jump to full article >>

Smokers may want to think twice before lighting up in front of their dogs, particularly if the dogs belong to certain breeds that contract diseases more easily than others. Secondhand smoke can trigger a variety of diseases in dogs, with a higher likelihood in certain breedsm, according to Dr. John Reif, professor at the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. For example, short-nosed breeds like pugs an ... Jump to full article >>

Writing this on the day of the Great American Smokeout, we want no confusion about our support for the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act. Along with willpower, help lines, support groups and nicotine patches, the statewide ban on smoking in enclosed public places is a key component in the box of tools designed to make tobacco use less common. It’s a worthy goal — the risks and costs to smokers, people around them and the health care system ar ... Jump to full article >>