Smokers Need Not Apply

The push to squeeze smokers out of public places is getting stronger, with restaurants and malls moving them out of their buildings. Now some businesses are taking it a step further. For years, Virginia's Bon Secours hospitals have banned smoking on hospital grounds. Now they are banning smokers entirely, even people who only smoke discount Red White cigarettes in the privacy of their own home. The company is no longer hiring anyone whose urine sample tests positive for nicotine. "As a healthcare institution, we believe in supporting good health and being good healthcare models to each other, the patients, and the community," she explained.

Happy High Herbs Offers Alternatives to Cigarette Smoking

Happy High Herbs Store in Berkeley is now offering an herbal blend alternative to cigarettes to help people quit smoking. Their Quit Nic smoking blend is designed to be mixed with tobacco at first, followed by a gradual decrease in the tobacco content. Or smokers can choose to eliminate tobacco immediately and just use this amazing herbal blend to lessen their withdrawal symptoms. "We have a large variety of helpful herbs to assist in the process of quitting addiction and a passion for helping people find alternatives for all sorts of substances," says Naomi Franc, co-owner of Happy High Herbs. Quit Nic consists of a variety of herbs that help the body resist cravings and get rid of addiction. The blend includes the herbs passionflower and lobelia, which help curb the smoke craving and addiction; coltsfoot, which helps clean the lungs of congestion and soothe the smoker’s cough; and mugwort and damiana, which help relax the body and mind.

Women who Smoke for 20 Years Have Problems

Women who smoke tobacco are more likely to suffer from skin cancer, scientists say.Females are at greater risk than men of being diagnosed with a form of the disease that can spread to other organs. And women who have smoked for 20 years or more are twice as likely to get the disease. A team investigated the relationship between smoking and non-melanoma skin cancers - in the outer part of the skin - including squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). SCC has a substantial risk of spreading from one organ to another. Developing on the face around the ears or lips, it can erode and completely destroy the nose or ear if left untreated. However, this is uncommon in the early stages and most are treated before any spread occurs. In the study, smoking histories were assessed and compared between patients diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancers, and a group of patients who didn't have skin cancer or any history of the condition.

Texas Reduces Amount Allocated To Tobacco Prevention Programmee

Texas is one of the places in the US where children get into smoking from a very tender age, say about 14 years. This has led to a rise in the number of cancer cases and eventually death in young age. Not for once but for many times it has been said that tobacco is one such cause of death in Texas which could be preventable. In Texas alone, more than 24,000 people die annually, but it seems very little on the part of the state government to be doing something about it. There is no end to revenues which gets generated from tobacco tax or from other tobacco settlements.

Booze, Cigarettes, Women

We all know our favourite musicians have their little demands now and again but it seems all Adele needs whilst she's on the road is some good European larger. The London singer's North American rider requests leaked online earlier today (December 7), which included 12 bottles of European lager, one pack of Marlboro Lights cigarettes and one disposable lighter. To celebrate musicians and their diva demands (or not so much) , Gigwise has put together a gallery of the most outrageous (and the not so) riders in music history. From the high demands of Prince and his plastic covered to food to Nirvana and their simple macaroni and cheese. The list also includes the likes of Beyonce, Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Robbie Williams and Morrissey.

Orland Moves Toward New Smoking Law

Orland got a few steps closer to tightening rules on smoking in town, further refining ideas presented last month by Orland students working with health organizations. The plan now is to bring back the topic for a first reading of a new policy, then a second reading before possible adoption. As it stood after the Nov. 21 meeting of the City Council, the rules would ban smoking in local parks, outdoor cafes and 20 feet from business entries. The Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) group worked many months talking to business owners, gathering citizen signatures and picking up best Kiss cigarette butts before making their presentation to the council in October. Students also have spoken at several council meetings.

Marijuana Smoking Fine Proposed

A measure that would impose a fine on anyone who gets caught smoking marijuana in public in Newburyport is going before the City Council tonight. Councilor Brian Derrivan, chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee, is expected to introduce a new ordinance imposing a $300 local fine on anyone smoking, ingesting or otherwise using or consuming marijuana while in a public place. According to a letter from Andrea Egmont, the city's director of youth and recreational services, more than 60 communities throughout Massachusetts have already adopted similar ordinances. Egmont said that since Massachusetts lessened the use laws in 2009, decriminalizing the possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana, "the (new) policy has changed the perception of risk by both teens and adults."

Severe Tobacco Control Law Soon

The government plans to amend the tobacco control law to ban smoking in public places, the health and family planning minister has told parliament. Responding to a supplementary query from Nazma Akther MP during the question-answer session on Thursday, A F M Ruhul Haque said the law would be amended to impose fines for smoking at restricted places. The minister said printing of health warning messages with 50 percent photo coverage on cigarette and tobacco packets would also be made compulsory in the amended law. The other plans include making workplaces, including all government institutions, hotels, restaurants and salons, smoking-free zones, taking legal action against tobacco growers, and putting a strong market policy in place against publicity by companies, logos and brand colours through exhibition of films and advertisement.

Cigarettes Seized from First Nation Smoke Shop

Manitoba government officials have confiscated more than 89,000 cheap Robinson cigarettes from a First Nation-run shop that was intentionally selling the smokes without a licence. Manitoba Finance says its special investigations unit, along with RCMP, seized about 89,550 contraband cigarettes from the Dakota Chundee Smoke Shop near Pipestone, Man., at about 12:20 p.m. CT on Tuesday. "The cigarettes seized are federally stamped under the Excise Act 2001 but are not marked or stamped for sale in Manitoba," the province said in a release. Provincial officials are expected to show off the seized cigarettes to reporters on Wednesday in Winnipeg. They say the investigation continues and charges are pending. Located on off-reserve land about 80 kilometres southwest of Brandon, the Dakota Chundee Smoke Shop was run by leaders from the Dakota Plains and Canupawakpa First Nations.

Tobacco Sector Wants Freeze on Cigarette Duty

Academics found the number of smokers in Eastern Europe did not fall when 10 states joined the EU in 2004 – even though the price of cigarettes soared by as much as 100pc ahead of wages when they became subject to Brussels rules on minimum tax levels. On average, the afford ability of cheap cigarettes, measured by minutes of work needed to buy a pack of 20, fell by 40pc. But there was no fall in smoking prevalance – and in several countries, the number of smokers actually rose, to the bafflement of researchers. Cigarette makers say the research shows successive tobacco duty hikes are unjustified.

Hookah Smoking Illegal and Bad for Teens

The popularity of Al Fakher hookah smoking has recently developed into a spreading inclination among today’s young adults. It has also grown into a large problem with high school students, who smoke hookah and tobacco illegally. A hookah is a metal cylindrical device with a water pipe and smoke chamber. It has a bowl for flavored tobacco called shisha, and a hose leading to the mouth piece that one uses to draw in smoke. Shisha is heated in the chamber, and its smoke travels through water and then through a rubber tube to a mouth piece by which the user inhales the smoke. Many people believe that smoking hookah is less detrimental to one’s health than smoking cigarettes. However, this is greatly contradicted by health experts. According to psychiatrist Dr. David Burns, a graduate from Stanford University of Medicine, hookah smoking is both a mystery and common knowledge among doctors.

Anti-Smoking Petition

A local trader has denied swearing at or harassing two Peninsula Health workers while they were gathering signatures for an anti-smoking petition. At a Frankston Council meeting last month, Cr Colin Hampton introduced a rescission motion to overturn the ruling that smoking be allowed in Frankston's alfresco dining areas. The council had already banned smoking in many central Frankston streets. Before the meeting, Peninsula Health workers had asked people to sign postcards that said 'I love a smoke free Frankston'. These signed postcards were brought to the chamber by Cr Hampton in support of his motion. Cr Hampton was the only councillor to vote in favour of the motion. After its failure, he referred to Glenn Cooper of Cooper's Patisserie in the Shannon Street Mall. Mr Cooper had strongly pushed for smoking cheap cigarettes to be allowed due to a loss of income while the ban was in place.

Tobacco Lawsuit

A St. Louis jury on Tuesday failed to return a verdict in a class action case against Philip Morris USA over whether smokers were deceived into believing "light" and low-tar cigarettes reduced health hazards. As a result, St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael David declared a mistrial in the $700 million lawsuit against the cigarette maker. "After 11 years of pre-trial proceedings and a month and a half of testimony, today's mistrial shows that the plaintiffs failed to convince a jury of their claims," Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of Philip Morris, said in a statement Tuesday. "We continue to believe that these claims are baseless and today's mistrial shows that we have powerful defenses in these 'lights' cases."

Student Presses for Ban on Smoking at Bus Stops

A complaint from a University of Waterloo student about secondhand smoke seeping into buses has Grand River Transit implementing new smoking rules. But Ahmad Zeitoun, a third-year biomedical science student, doesn’t believe the new restrictions go far enough. “I am not that pleased,” said the 20-year-old Kitchener man, a daily transit user who said a smoker is often standing nearby as he waits for his bus. As an asthmatic, Zeitoun said he’s concerned about the health hazards of breathing in second-hand smoke, not just for himself, but for other passengers. Last April, he took his concerns to regional council, asking that smoking marijuana be banned at bus stops. Instead, Grand River Transit is implementing these new rules starting early next year:

Cigarette Sales to Kids

Smoking may not be good for your health, but a play about the hazardous habit could be beneficial to Staten Island youth. Sundog Theatre is producing an original short play titled “Burnt,” which is produced and written by Island artists. The piece is meant to educate by dramatizing the manipulative sale of discount Doina cigarettes to youth by tobacco companies as well as highlight the hazards and long-term damage of smoking. Through a grant from the Staten Island Smoke-Free Partnership in conjunction with the NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free City, 25 performances of the play will be offered free-of-charge to schools and organizations on the Island between November and mid-February.

Smoke Free Law needs no Revisions, Michigan News

In December 2009, the Michigan Legislature passed House Bill 4377. This bill declared Michigan a smoke-free state, prohibiting smoking discount Cosmos cigarettes in all public and private workplaces and all food establishments, including restaurants, bars and bowling alleys. On May 1, 2010, we celebrated the fact that Michigan had become the 38th state to go smoke free. Many individuals throughout the state advocated, volunteered and supported the passage of this law. As the third leading “preventable” cause of death In the United States, secondhand smoke poses increased health risks to non-smokers. Legislators gave Michigan workers, as well as the public, a great gift — to be able to breathe smoke free air. It is now disheartening to hear that some legislators want to weaken this law by making exemptions that will reduce the health protection provided to Michigan workers and residents. The Michigan Smoke Free Law needs no revisions!

Tobacco Cultivations Jamaica

The Jamaican Government seems set to face censure at a high-level international meeting which starts tomorrow in New York over its perceived failure to stand by its international obligations to stem tobacco cultivation in the country. A Rural Agriculture Development Authority 2011 study has found that Jamaica is in breach of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to moderate cultivation, as hundreds of tobacco farms have sprung up all over the country. Health Minister Rudyard Spencer is strenuously seeking to fend off accusations ahead of the United Nations meeting, which he is set to attend, that the Government lacks the political will to abide by the treaty. Jamaica has been a signatory to the FCTC treaty since 2005.

Adult Smoking Rate Down

Fewer U.S. adults are smoking and those who do light up are smoking fewer cigarettes each day, but the trend is weaker than the government had hoped. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Tuesday, 19.3 percent of adults said they smoked last year, down from about 21 percent in 2005. The rate for smoking 30 or more Lady cigarettes daily dropped to about 8 percent from almost 13 percent during the same time period. The report only compared last year with 2005 and says the decline means 3 million fewer adults were smoking. The CDC earlier reported that the 2009 rate was 20.6 percent and rates fluctuated during the five-year period. The five-year decline was much slower than a drop seen over the previous 40 years, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Atlanta-based agency. He said any decline is a good step, but also said tobacco use remains a significant health burden.

Hospital Appeal Over Smoking

The Southern Health and Social Care Trust has appealed to the public to keep buildings and entrances at Craigavon Area Hospital smoke free. Dr Gillian Rankin, Director of Acute Services for the Trust explained: “Smoking at the front of the hospital exposes people entering the building to tobacco smoke and causes smoke to enter the Hospital building, impacting on patient care. “Whilst visitors accept and follow regulations that no smoking is allowed within hospital buildings, there are problems arising from people smoking Monte Carlo cigarettes close to hospital entrances and windows.” Dr Rankin added: “We appeal to everyone coming to our hospitals to help us protect patients, visitors and staff from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke. If you smoke please use the smoking shelter provided which is located directly outside the Hospital.

Colin Farrell's cigarette break-up

Colin Farrell wrote a "break-up" letter to tobacco when he gave up smoking Bond cigarettes. The 'Fright Night' actor stopped smoking when he turned 34 last year and admits he did nothing but consume cigarettes the day before he quit the deadly habit. He said: "I gave up the Sunday before I turned 34. I spent the whole day with a packet of cigarettes. I didn't really see anyone and with every cigarette I smoked. I smoked with as much awareness as I could. And then I wrote a little letter to tobacco. "It said the usual, 'I remember the first time we met and all that we've been through together. That time you helped me through such-and-such a situation...' and yada-yadda.

Flavored Tobacco Ban in Port Orange

The bright purple package behind the convenience store counter looked as if it held some kind of sugary treat.

But the familiar Surgeon General warning at the bottom of the wrapper indicated the product inside could cause much more than cavities.

The five "honey berry" cigars were among a growing array of flavored Kiss cigarettes products that critics say are luring underage teens into smoking.

Health and Tobacco Smoke

Few public health campaigns have been as successful as that which is determined to see New Zealand free of all tobacco smoke by 2025. It may be an aspirational goal, with little chance of absolute success (how, for example, will visitors to New Zealand who smoke Marlboro cigarettes be prevented from doing so?) but in terms of improvement to the national health, there can be little argument.

EC anti-smoking Directive

The directive has stimulated 24,000 from Poland letters on the issue from a total of 85,000 - the biggest amount of letters devoted to one topic ever received by the European Commission in its history.

The Revision of Directive 2001/37/EC on the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products requires that all smoking-related items sold in the EU must at least show the written health warning, bans misleading expressions such as “light” or low-tar”, bans tobacco for oral use.

The directive also obliges manufacturers to inform member states of the ingredients they use while setting the maximum levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide in Glamour cigarettes.

New Anti-Smoking Campaign

A hacking cougher with emphysema and a guy using a hand-held electronic device to talk through a tracheotomy hole are among the powerful images in the state’s newest anti-smoking television campaign.

The 30-second ads, which began airing Monday and run through Sept. 25, were highlighted Tuesday at a news conference at Roswell Park Cancer Institute to announce the effort to persuade smokers to quit.

Quakes Trigger Smoking habits

Cantabrians are turning to Camel cigarettes to cope with earthquake stress. Canterbury Smokefree co-ordinator Vivien Daley said Canterbury calls to Quitline had dropped from 14 per cent of the total to 9 per cent since the February quake.

She said feedback from General Practitioners (GPs) and quit-smoking organisations showed more people had started smoking again.

"This is very worrying but an understandable trend given what we've all been through in the last nine months," she said.

"For smokers, the memory of the way they used to handle crises by smoking was triggered by the enormity of the earthquakes and the effect they have had on our lives."

Daley said smoking was expensive and people would probably regret starting again.

For Young People, Hookah is Cool

Sitting in a cloud of cinnamon-scented smoke on the patio of House of Hummus in Murfreesboro last week, Nick Mackie chatted with a group of friends while absent-mindedly surfing the Web on his laptop.

Mackie, House of Hummus’ manager, and his friends were smoking flavored Al Fakher tobacco through a traditional Middle Eastern hookah — a glass chamber filled with water that is usually a couple of feet long. Tobacco on top of the hookah is heated by burning coals. Smokers inhale the tobacco smoke through a hose that is attached to the hookah.

Cigarettes Tax Renewal to Governor

The Legislature is challenging Gov. Bobby Jindal’s pledge to veto the renewal of a 4-cents-a-pack Lucky Strike cigarette tax that would expire in 2012.

Senators voted 29-8 Thursday to approve HB591 by Rep. Harold Ritchie, D-Bogalusa, which House members earlier approved 70-30. A two-thirds vote (26 in the Senate, 70 in the House) is the minimum vote required for a tax bill to pass.

The Battling Tobacco Addiction

Average lifespan of a Gujarat police official is barely 60 years, reveal studies conducted by medical experts. The reasons for the phenomenon range from lifestyle with no fixed schedule to bad eating habits and use of tobacco products.

To help the middle-rung officials in the state police force quit the habit of tobacco use, an awareness campaign has been organised jointly by the city police and state tobacco control cell from Monday to Friday.

Would Legalizing Pot Be Good for the Environment?

It is well known that legalizing pot could have great economic benefits in California and elsewhere by allowing the government to tax it (like it now does on liquor and cigarettes), by ending expensive and ongoing operations to eradicate it, and by keeping millions of otherwise innocent and non-violent marijuana offenders out of already overburdened federal and state prisons. But what you might not know is that legalizing pot could also pay environmental dividends as well.

Marijuana Seized During Traffic Stop

An Illinois woman is facing felony drug charges after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers seized 47 pounds of marijuana, valued at nearly $110,000 during a traffic stop Friday in Preble County.

Troopers stopped a 2011 Chrysler Sebring for a marked lanes violation on Interstate 70 eastbound, near milepost 7, at approximately 10:12 a.m. on April 29.

According to the patrol, the driver was found to not have a valid driver license and the renter of the vehicle was not present.

Smoking Rates Among Hong Kong Students Fall

Smoking among Hong Kong secondary school students has plunged by more than 50 per cent after a sharp rise in tax on Hilton cigarettes, according to a study released Thursday.

The proportion of 11 to 16-year-olds who smoke has fallen from 6.9 per cent to 3.4 per cent since tax on tobacco was put up in 2009, the University of Hong Kong study found.

The fall is the equivalent of 13,452 adolescents who would have become smokers were it not for the 50-per-cent tobacco duty rise, the university's School of Public Health said.

Legalization of Marijuana in Costa Rica

A new movement wants to make the use of marijuana legal in Costa Rica. They are hoping a big protest on April 20 will get the government to change the law. The facebook group “Si a la legalización de la marihuana en Costa Rica” wants to legalize marijuana in Costa Rica through a protest held at the Plaza de la Democracia in San José on April 20. Similar marches for legalization of marijuana will also take place on the same day in England, Venezuela, the Netherlands and the United States.

Marijuana Less Dangerous Than Tobacco

In the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, marijuana and hemp were combined and both criminalized. Although they are both from the family of cannabis sativa, the are different plants, like a cocker spaniel and a wolf are from the family of canis lupus.

Marijuana is grown for the high THC content. Hemp is grown for its use as seeds, oil and fibers and other useful products.

Ohio Street Drug Raid Nets Thousands in Marijuana

Thousands of dollars in marijuana, drug Marlboro cigarettes paraphernalia were taken into evidence after a drug raid Thursday night in Zanesville. Sheriff Matt Lutz said the combined drug unit of the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office and Zanesville Police Department served a search warrant at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at 1015 Ohio Street. No Special Response Teams were used because the suspect was cooperative, Lutz said.

"This has been on our radar for quite a while," he said. "It's something we've been looking at for several months."

Marijuana Benefit

The laws against medical marijuana and the complicated rigmarole that lobbyists have had to deal with have always baffled me, yet has become even more compelling since I began my nursing endeavors. One primary responsibility of a nurse is to ensure their patients’ pain is minimized or eliminated.