Tobacco News

A measure approved by San Jose voters in November will come to fruition on Tuesday as local marijuana dispensaries will be required to pay a 7% tax. Measure U was passed with 78% of the vote in November.

To help the dispensaries prepare, City officials will be holding a seminar at City Hall Monday morning. Those who operate the dispnsaries will learn how to determine the tax by remitting their gross receipts. Ream more »

SHISHA is herbal tobacco which is smoked through a water pipe, also known as a ‘hookah’ pipe.

An average smoking session will see 10 milligrams of fruit tobacco smoked for 30 minutes.

It is a shared experience where one or more pipes can stem from the shisha pipe.

Shisha bars are popular with Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities who see it as a social hub and central to their culture. Ream more »

There is a long history of the cigarette industry selling health. Early advertisements showed physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and researchers all explaining how it was safer to smoke some new kind of cigarette (see my website for a history of cigarette ads). Early cigarettes were promoted to cure colds and asthma. Filtered cigarettes were supposed to be safer. Unfortunately, Kent produced the micronite filter, which was later found to contain asbestos as one of its ingredients (1). Low tar “light” cigarettes have now been linked to rapid increases among smokers in cases of adenocarcinoma, once a rare form of lung cancer in the periphery of the lung, because people puffed on them harder (2). Buyer beware! Ream more »

Now that Jessica Alba’s pregnant with baby #2, will the famously fit actress quit smoking for good? Known for her celebrity butt, the mother of one is also famous for chain smoking and puffing her way through photo shoots and movie sets. Will Jessica Alba finally kick the habit?

SMOKING HOT JESSICA ALBA CAN’T QUIT SMOKING
In 2008, the 29-year-old Alba and hubby Cash Warren, 32, welcomed baby girl Honor Marie, and while she quit smoking during pregnancy, Alba was quick to light up following the birth of their first daughter. She was seen smoking in France and was photographed chain smoking on the set of “Good Luck Chuck” and throughout her November 2010 covershoot with Elle magazine. Ream more »

A day of skipping class ended in some arrests for a group of Moody High School students who were busted by police Monday afternoon. Police swarmed a neighborhood near the school after five teens ran from cops.

Five teenagers were seen hanging out in a vacant house and as police approached, the kids scattered. That’s when the officers called for backup.
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In 2009, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco began test marketing smoke-free, spit-free tobacco products in three U.S. cities: Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, and Portland, Ore. Researchers now report the first chemical characterization of dissolvable tobacco products to identify what is in them (J. Agric. Food Chem., DOI 10.1021/jf103295d).
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Public health advocates have squared off against retail business owners over a Senate bill that would ban the sale of some flavored tobacco products. Advocates say flavored tobacco is a means of hooking young smokers.
Washington tobacco retailers argue that they have enough regulations to cope with and that the state should focus on existing laws that prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from buying tobacco. They say a ban on flavored tobacco will cripple their businesses. Ream more »

A state senator wants to keep electronic cigarettes out of kids’ hands by making it a petty offense for merchants to sell them to minors and for minors to buy them.
“If we’re going to say minors can’t buy regular cigarettes, it doesn’t seem valid to say they can have access to electronic cigarettes,” said Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler. “Hopefully a few less young people will suffer nicotine addictions with this ban.” Ream more »

A Harare-based Chinese tobacco purchasing firm, Tian Ze Tobacco Company, on Thursday opened a new tobacco sales floor in the Zimbabwean capital catering specifically for its contracted farmers.

The company invested about 1 million U. S. dollars in setting up the sales floor, and has entered into a partnership with a local company to process tobacco sold at the floors.
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Some Brooklyn residents and politicians have had—forgive us—smoke coming out of their ears the past two months over a promotion involving Camel Blue cigarettes.
The reason? The pack included an illustration of the brand’s iconic camel on what looks to be Kent Avenue, in front of a Williamsburg Bridge backdrop, with Williamsburg itself as a selling point. “Some call it the most famous hipster neighborhood,” the package copy begins. Ream more »