Tobacco News

Like a sugar-starved child standing before a candy dispenser, a customer at V & K Smoke Shop in Quincy marvels at the 5-foot-tall, square machine churning out sticks of tobacco. The machine spits out a cigarette every 3 seconds.
“You can’t beat it,” Keith Morrison of West Roxbury said while watching the cigarettes fall from a chute into a white, plastic bucket. “I mean, they’re perfectly packed all the way to the filter.” Ream more »

The Elk Grove City Council decided Wednesday night that persuasion is preferable to the prospect of barring smokers from lighting up inside their own apartment units in the city.
The council, after hearing mainly from those upset over exposure to secondhand smoke, decided nonetheless that government regulation is not the way to fix complaints coming largely from one subsidized senior housing unit.
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Q. I’d like to quit smoking and start exercising, but I know that both habits will be tough to stick to. Should I try to quit smoking first and start exercising later?
A. Some people get overwhelmed if they make too many drastic lifestyle changes all at once. But others thrive, especially if adopting one good habit reinforces another good habit. With smoking, you may find that exercising while you stop smoking will make kicking cigs easier. And that’s because they are fairly incompatible habits. Read more

The state Department of Health issued an order Thursday banning the sale of synthetic marijuana. Sold under brand names such as “Spice,” and “Twisted Dreams,” it’s been the subject of growing concern among politicians, law enforcement and health officials. Pennsylvania banned it last year, and New Jersey did about a month ago. Read more

Tobacco and cigarette companies are often touted as recession-resistant businesses. Cigarettes and other tobacco product sales often increase when consumers are forced to cut food budgets. Despite the known realities as to the negative health consequences associated with tobacco, nicotine is also known to calm the nerves during stressful situations, curb one’s hunger and act as a stimulant. Read more

The possibility of a smoking ban for the downtown Bo Diddley Community Plaza and city parks remains up in the air.

On Thursday, the city’s Public Safety Committee, comprised of commissioners Jeanna Mastrodicasa, Todd Chase and Randy Wells, recommended that the full City Commission hear an Alachua County Health Department presentation on the effects of a voluntary program to designate a handful parks, including the downtown plaza, as smoke-free zones and consider whether regulations to legally ban smoking are appropriate.
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Nevada’s Supreme Court has taken up an appeal of a district judge’s decision to declare the state’s medical marijuana law unconstitutional.

The high court last week asked for a full briefing by Clark County prosecutors and defense attorneys about the law, which District Judge Donald Mosley called ” absurd” and “ridiculous.” Ream more »

New anti-smoking advertisements released by the Federal government focus on the terrors of living with diseases caused by smoking, rather than dying from cigarettes. They use a scare-tactic meant to drive gruesome messages home, but are they effective?

Christopher Owens, an exercise physiologist at the Tobacco Cessation Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital, says he hears smokers say this on a regular basis: “You have to die from something so why don’t I continue to smoke, which I enjoy?” Ream more »

Owners, employers and private club representatives made the case for a limited smoking ban at Tuesday’s Casper City Council meeting.
The two-hour presentation stressed the harm a ban would cause to business and customer rights. Owners also cited financial hardships for the remaining smoking establishments. Ream more »

Simpsonville smokers and nonsmokers may be waiting with bated breath while the City Council reviews a proposed smoking ordinance.

After changes were made, the Simpsonville council voted 5-2 to table the proposed ordinance so it could further review it. Council members Julius Welborn and Geneva Lawrence voted against tabling it. Ream more »