Tobacco News

A new year comes with new resolutions. Some people may have decided to eat healthier and some may have decided to quit smoking. There is good news for potential cigarette quitters who live in Great Neck, NY. Smoking has now been banned on the public sidewalks outside of businesses.

On Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011 the Great Neck Village Board approved the smoking ban on the public sidewalks leaving smokers in disbelief. If caught, smokers could receive a fine of up to $1,000. Ream more »

Electronic Cigarettes, or e-cigarettes as they are popularly known, have helped many addicted smokers quit smoking. It is one of the safest and most effective ways of giving up on the stick.
Electronic cigarettes are simple battery operated devices that release medically approved nicotine to help suppress the need to light a cigarette. E-cigarettes are very popular and most people who want to quit smoking either opt for nicotine chewing gums or these. Ream more »

The Montana Legislature will hear the first of several medical marijuana bills on Friday.

House Bill 68 would change the current law, passed by voters in 2004and people on both sides of the medical marijuana debate say the current Montana law needs changing.

“It’s been up to us as caregivers for the most part to self regulate ourselves,” said Mark Higgins, owner of medical marijuana store, Montannabis, Inc. In Billings. “Not everybody is good at that. And I think that’s where a lot of the problems came in at.” Ream more »

Minutes after the first puffs, a smoker’s genes are damaged enough to lay the groundwork for a future cancer to take hold. That’s what U.S. scientists discovered in a recent study designed to evaluate the effect of substances in tobacco on DNA.

Might as Well Inject It

Damage occurred so quickly, it startled researchers who compared the speed of the effect to injecting the substances directly into the bloodstream. Ream more »

The state Health Department is providing $146,495 to help pay for tobacco prevention programs in eight South Dakota communities.

The money comes from an increase in the tobacco tax approved by the state’s voters in 2006 and can be used for community or school programs. Ream more »

Washington lawmakers say a new bill would help protect medical marijuana patients and providers from arrest.
But some patients say it could make things much worse for them.
Chet Biggerstaff was in an on-the-job accident. he went through several surgeries and was on several medications…but he says medical marijuana saved his life. Ream more »

Reynolds American Inc. said it has agreed to sell its Lane Ltd. roll-your-own and pipe tobacco unit to Denmark’s Scandanavian Tobacco Group A/S for $205 million.

The second-largest U.S. tobacco company has been shifting its focus to a few key brands and consolidating production. It has also diversified into smokeless tobacco for growth as cigarette sales continue to decline.
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Two common smoking cessation medications both appear to reduce activation in key areas of the brain associated with cravings and rewards, researchers say. In two fMRI studies, both bupropion (Zyban, Wellbutrin) and varenicline (Chantix) reduced activation in the ventral striatum and medial orbitofrontal cortex, which was associated with reduced patient cravings, according to Arthur Brody, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues; and Teresa Franklin, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday issued guidelines to the tobacco industry that could lead to some newer cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco products being removed from the market and prevent others from being introduced, if the FDA determines their ingredients and design encourage non-users to start using tobacco or make it more difficult for users to quit.
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Tobacco companies led by Altria Group Inc. and Reynolds American Inc. must get U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell products introduced or changed in the past four years, a move that may let the agency keep more addictive items off the market. Products that weren’t commercially available on Feb. 15, 2007, must be submitted for review, the FDA said yesterday in a statement. Items that aren’t “substantially equivalent” to those already for sale on that date or raise public health questions may be banned or withdrawn from sale, the agency said.
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