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.