Tobacco News

Fresh air is a precious commodity and a right for all New Yorkers, but many multi-unit dwellings are not smoke-free environments.

Tenants and property owners are subjected to the harmful effects of secondhand smoke even when they have chosen not to smoke themselves. According to the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, secondhand smoke cannot be contained. Even cleaning the air and ventilating buildings cannot eliminate the health hazards of secondhand smoke exposure.
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Contraband cigarettes worth a staggering RM46mil were seized from 10 containers bound for Egypt in one of the biggest seizures in the country.

The success by the Selangor Customs Department also saw the arrest of a local man, in his 30s, who is said to be in charge of the shipment transaction.

State Customs director Datuk Azis Yacub said the seizure was made in the wee hours of Monday following a tip-off. Ream more »

THE federal government is seeking feedback on its plans for plain packaging of products other than cigarettes, including cigars and loose-leaf tobacco.
Labor is proposing to amend its tobacco plain-packaging regulations when parliament resumes in February to include additional specifications for non-cigarette items.

“We must challenge perceptions that cigars are in any way more glamorous, or a less harmful alternative, to cigarettes,” Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said.
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Tulare County Sheriff’s Deputies seized nearly 300 pounds of marijuana grown right near Woodlake.

Deputies say that Odubaldo Campos, Segundo Gonzalez, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Orlando Guevara planned to sell the pot in Florida.

The marijuana was discovered inside a big rig leaving a house in Woodlake. When deputies first opened the trailer it appeared to be full of citrus, but they soon discovered some boxes in the middle of the fruit. Inside the boxes was 257 pounds of processed marijuana.
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A letter of protest arrived. It was signed by the shaky hands of 16 or so cigarette-smoking residents of Hampton Care Center, a skilled-nursing facility in midtown Stockton.

“This concerns a possible violation of patients’ rights,” it began.

A new director has enforced strict rules, the letter said. Smoking is allowed only at designated times, in one designated place, for a designated duration.
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A Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) program supported by Four Villages Community Health Centre to help smokers quit will take place in January.

Smokers from across the province will have the opportunity to enroll in the STOP (Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients) program and will receive nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) free of charge to help in their attempt to quit smoking.
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An e cigarette is a device which tastes and looks just like a regular cigarette but in reality it is poles apart from its predecessor. A major difference between both products is the lack of tobacco content in an electronic cigarette. On the other hand, a regular cigarette has ample quantities of tobacco in it. The second major difference between the two is the lack of smoke in an e cig. On the other hand, a traditional tobacco filled cigarette is known to emit clouds of poisonous gasses when it is lit. Nonetheless, despite not containing tobacco and being relatively smokeless in nature, an e cigarette manages to deliver the much needed “nicotine hit” to smoking enthusiasts at all times.
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If there’s such a thing as an essential Brooklyn film, it might well be “Smoke.” The 1995 drama, co-directed by Wayne Wang and Park Slope novelist Paul Auster, was filmed mostly around the corner of 16th Street and Prospect Park West, and is vibrant with neighborhood personality.
Inside the Brooklyn Cigar Co., Augie Wren (Harvey Keitel) engages a diverse and loquacious clientele, acting as a pivot around which other narratives revolve, primarily one involving melancholy neighborhood writer Paul Benjamin (William Hurt) and his relationship with a teenage street kid (Harold Perrineau Jr.) whom he takes under his wing. Ream more »

Launching a campaign to control the use of tobacco on Wednesday, health minister Adoor Prakash said that the countdown for a ‘Tobacco Free Kerala’ has begun. The minister underlined the fact that of the eight most common causes of death due to a disease, six were tobacco related.

“Regional Cancer Centre’s campaign (RCC) comes in the wake of research studies on the growing incidence of tobacco use in Kerala. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Global Adult Tobacco Survey’ of 2010 indicates that 21.4% of adults including 35.5% men and 8.5% women use tobacco in any form,” Prakash said. If these figures count, as many as 2.8 million people in the state face premature death due to tobacco use, he said. Ream more »

Commissioners discussed a new policy Tuesday that bans all tobacco use on all county property including boat ramps, parks, trails and the sports complex, which will roll out in three phases starting Jan. 1 2012.

“It is tobacco free. It does not just cover smoking, it is all tobacco products,” said Assistant County Administrator June Fisher told the board. Phase 1, which includes the downtown Sebring campuses like the Government Center, Courthouse, State Attorney, Public Defender, Government Annex, Facilities Office, the Children’s Advocacy and all EMS centers.
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