U.S. tobacco companies’ first quarter earnings are getting a boost from recent price increases but the year’s outlook remains mixed as domestic sales volumes shrink due to state laws banning indoor smoking and the graying of core customers. On Thursday, Philip Morris International Inc., the world’s largest tobacco company by revenue, posted a 13% profit increase on higher prices and gains in Asian markets. Reynolds American In ... Jump to full article >>

Altria Group Inc. (MO – Analyst Report), the manufacturer and seller of cigarettes, wine and other tobacco products, reported results for the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Virginia-based Altria posted adjusted earnings of 44 cents a share in the quarter, which was up 4.8% compared with the prior-year quarter and was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The quarter benefited from strong income across its tobacco businesses, lower ass ... Jump to full article >>

A group of 17 demonstrators staged a rally Tuesday in front of Reynolds American Inc.’s downtown headquarters to call attention to tobacco-farm workers, who the protesters said are often underpaid and forced to live in poor conditions. Gail Phares of Raleigh, an organizer and advocate for immigrants’ rights, said that the U.S. must reform its immigration policies. “It’s time for us to recognize the labor of farm workers a ... Jump to full article >>

Call it a duel between tobacco tax studies. During a floor debate in the Legislature last month on lowering the New Hampshire tobacco tax, Rep. Patrick Abrami, R-Stratham, said the move was necessary to help small businesses rebound and strengthen a competitive advantage in lower cigarette taxes with neighbor states. “We have reached the tipping point,” Abrami said about the sizeable increase in tobacco taxes that had taken place sin ... Jump to full article >>

The New Hampshire Supreme Court is weighing the question, “What is a cigarette?” Retailer North of the Border Tobacco drew the attention of state investigators in 2009, when it installed machines that can roll 200 cigarettes in 10 minutes. Customers buy loose tobacco and rolling tubes from the retailer’s store and then pay to use the machines. State lawyers argue customers leave with cigarettes that didn’t exist when the ... Jump to full article >>

BELLINGHAM — An inmate in the Whatcom County Jail was charged Monday, April 11, for allegedly breaking out a window in his cell in March to smuggle in marijuana and tobacco. Daniel J. Faix, 26, allegedly broke a 4-inch by 4-foot hole in the window, which is on the jail’s second floor 23 feet above ground. He then fashioned bed sheets into a rope, which he used to bring the contraband into his cell, according to charging documents filed in Wh ... Jump to full article >>

Ever-rising state and federal taxes on cigarettes, designed to discourage use but also generate government revenue, have made a pack of smokes very, very expensive. A pack of cigarettes can cost anywhere from over $6 to over $11, depending on the state. That leaves smokers three alternatives; pay the price, quit, or find a cheaper way to feed their habit. Increasingly, smokers are buying machines to roll their own cigarettes, much to the conste ... Jump to full article >>

The Assembly Taxation Committee held a hearing Tuesday on AB 333, which calls for an increase on all alcohol and tobacco products. Democratic Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce said proposed increase in sin taxes really isn’t that dramatic. “We’re talking about six cents on a bottle of wine,” said Pierce. No one would even notice that or even a 45 cent hike on high end liquor.” The state hasn’t raised taxes on tobacc ... Jump to full article >>

While shifting the focus on ‘smokeless tobacco’, the Centre on Monday said that it would now work on improving the pictorial warnings to curb the use of tobacco. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which focused the most of the anti-tobacco campaign on the issue of smoking, for the first time, admitted that pictorial warnings were not so effective. Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Keshav Desiraju ... Jump to full article >>

Democrats held an informational meeting on raising the cigarette tax in Idaho by $1.25 per pack, a move forced by the Republican Party’s refusal to schedule a hearing. About 60 people attended Monday’s session. Democrats want a tax hike from 57 cents per pack now to help reduce smoking – and raise money to fund programs being cut, including public schools and Medicaid. Republicans, even those who also favor a cigarette tax hike ... Jump to full article >>