The Canadian Convenience Stores Association said 45 per cent of the cigarettes sold in Canada are illegally produced and sold and is calling on government to end the illegal sale of smokes. The group’s senior vice-president, Michel Gadbois, said the illegal trade is hitting convenience stores hard, with one store closing each day in Ontario alone. “We have to bear down on government and say that’s enough,” Gadbois told CB ... Jump to full article >>

They may have banned smoking in the workplace, but the message seems to have passed Kate Moss by. The supermodel lit up in her chauffeur driven car as she arrived for a show on the first day of London Fashion Week yesterday. She then sparked another cigarette backstage at the Hakaan show. Chain smoker Kate happily puffed away as she chatted to the models, before taking her seat in the front row. She watched the collection alongside French Vogue ... Jump to full article >>

Let me get this straight. Smoking is bad for you, right? It’s bad if you smoke. It’s bad if someone smokes around you. It’s so bad that our state government, like others before it, is now passing a law against smoking in any public place — restaurant, office building, shopping mall, museum — any public place at all. Except a casino. Got that? A casino that harbors gambling — which is also not good for you R ... Jump to full article >>

A Fairmount Heights man was charged Friday with attempted theft and several counts of forgery after he tried to use a counterfeit check to buy more than $8,000 worth of Newport cigarettes from a Waldorf Sam’s Club, police said. Sounds stupid, except that Nathaniel A. Stewart, 44, had tried the same scheme three times before and not been arrested, police said. Once, he successfully purchased more than $8,000 in smokes, they said. “He ... Jump to full article >>

Some of the money earned from the sale of black market smokes is fuelling firearm and drug smuggling efforts by organized criminal groups, an expert says. About $2 billion in tax revenue goes up in smoke as a result of the sale of illegal smokes, according to a report by the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers Council. About 13 billion illegal cigarettes are sold in Canada a year. “People think selling contraband cigarettes is a victimless crime a ... Jump to full article >>

Teenagers in the nation’s capital continue to smoke a significant number of contraband cigarettes, a new study suggests. The study, commissioned by the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco, found that 23 per cent of cigarette butts collected from around 11 high schools in Ottawa were illegal cigarettes. “Kids, who shouldn’t be smoking at all, are having no trouble getting their hands on illegal cigarettes that cost pen ... Jump to full article >>

A Call For Clarity In The Midst Of A Blue Fog: Now More Than Ever, We Need The Lt. Gov’s Healthy Guam Initiative [GUAM] – As far as Guam is concerned, the latest Centers For Disease Control report on smoking nationwide (1998-2007) tells the same old story — our island sparks up even more than “Light My Lucky” Kentucky, which leads all 50 states. At 31.1%, one in every three adults smokes on Guam, 11.3% higher the na ... Jump to full article >>