Hawaii may have been the fiftieth state to join the U.S., but when the calendar flips over to 2016 after midnight tonight, it will become the first state to raise the legal smoking age to 21. [More]
smoking
New Rule Bans E-Cigarettes From Checked Baggage
By 10.27.15
After more than 26 incidents in six years in which e-cigarettes have caused fires or explosions on planes, a new federal rule is set to go into effect banning the devices from being left in checked baggage. [More]
Man Says E-Cigarette Exploded In His Hand, Pieces Of Metal Pierced Wall
By 10.26.15
While it’s been several years since we reported on an e-cigarette exploding while charging or being used by a consumer, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. Case in point: A Wichita, KS, man says the device he used to try to beat his nicotine habit erupted, burning his hands and damaging nearby walls. [More]
Pediatricians: Raise Smoking Age To 21, Ban Flavored Tobacco, Restrict E-Cig Sales
By 10.26.15
Even though the percentage of smokers in the U.S. has been slashed by more than half over the last 50 years, smoking is still the leading preventable cause of death in the country. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes there are a number of steps that should be taken in order to prevent people from picking up the habit in the first place. [More]
Settlement Between New York, Tobacco Companies Provides $550M For Smoking-Related Health Costs
By 10.20.15
A decades-long dispute between the New York Attorney General’s Office and major tobacco firms over payments the companies were required to make for smoking-related public-health costs, but refused to dish out, has come to an end. A new settlement between the parties directs the tobacco companies to deliver $550 million to the state, New York City and other counties. [More]
N.Y. Bill Seeks To Outlaw Smoking In Hotel Rooms
By 9.3.15
Although it’s illegal to smoke in most indoor spaces in New York — office buildings, bars, restaurants, retail establishments, etc. — those looking to light up a cigarette can still do so in hotel and motel rooms that are specified as smoking rooms. That could change soon, if a new bill in the state legislature succeeds. [More]
United Airlines Flight Forced To Turn Around After Passenger Refuses To Stop Smoking
By 6.29.15
Though it might seem like “no smoking” signs on airplanes aren’t even needed anymore — who could possibly think lighting up a cigarette in an enclosed cabin filled with other people is okay? — there are apparently those out there who still need reminding that smoking isn’t allowed. To wit: a United Airlines flight headed to Boston from Denver was forced to turn around after a passenger reportedly lit up and refused to stop smoking. [More]
Hawaii Could Become The First State To Raise Minimum Age For Smoking To 21
By 4.28.15
Lighting up a cigarette will only be legal for adults over the age of 21 in Hawaii soon, as the state prepares to become the first in the U.S. to bump the minimum legal age to partake in tobacco products up from 18. [More]
New Orleans Ban Against Smoking In Bars Goes Into Effect
By 4.22.15
Bars never close in New Orleans, but now those late night hot spots and cozy dives won’t be filled with smoke: Following the lead of many of the country’s major cities, New Orleans put a ban against smoking inside bars into effect as of today. [More]
Study: Raising Legal Age To Buy Cigarettes To 21 Would Result In Fewer Smokers
By 3.12.15
By this point everyone can agree that smoking is harmful to your health, and yet there are still new smokers starting up the habit year after year. A new study from the Institute of Medicine says that swell in numbers could be curbed by raising the legal age to buy cigarettes to 21. [More]
D.C. Court Issues Temporary Order Prohibiting Man From Smoking In His Home After Neighbors Sue
By 3.11.15
No home is an island, especially when it shares walls with other houses. As such, a Superior Court judge in Washington, D.C. has issued a temporary order banning a man from smoking inside his home, after his neighbors filed a lawsuit claiming that the fumes were harmful to their health. [More]
FDA Warns That Chantix May Decrease Users’ Alcohol Tolerance
By 3.11.15
Smokers using the prescription drug Chantix (varenicline) to help them through the quitting process may want to sip their beers slowly, as this week the FDA approved new warnings that the drug can change the way users react to alcohol. [More]
Report: Teens Buy E-Cigarettes Online With Little Difficulty Despite Industry Safeguards
By 3.2.15
Back in February 2014, Ohio became the first state to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. Since then, 40 other states and cities have followed suit. Despite those regulations, a new study found it’s increasingly easy for teens to skirt the rules by purchasing the products online. [More]
Washington Could Become First State To Raise Smoking Age To 21
By 1.23.15
The era of walking into a store and buying that first nudie magazine and pack of cigarettes upon turning 18 might soon be a thing of the past for presidents of Washington State, as legislators there are proposing a new age threshold for those who want to light up. [More]
L.A. Medical Marijuana Dispensary Removes Pot-Smoking Santa Painting From The Window After Complaints
By 12.17.14
If the legal marijuana industry learns anything from Big Tobacco’s experience in this country, it’s that mixing kids and smoking is just not going to fly, as the industry found out with the banishment of Joe Camel and his ilk. So even if medical marijuana is legal in California, it’s not legal for anyone under 18. You know, or anyone who might believe in Santa Claus. [More]
Massachusetts Town Decides Against Banning Tobacco Sales After Outcry
By 11.20.14
After floating the idea of possibly banning all tobacco sales within city limits, a Massachusetts town’s Board of Health has decided to give up the proposal after some residents protested the effort, saying they should be able to buy cigarettes and other products in their own town. [More]
Massachusetts City Considering Banning Tobacco Sales Completely
By 11.10.14
While most cities have banned smoking indoors in public places, and companies like CVS have decided to stop selling cigarettes outright, no U.S. town has actually banned the sale of tobacco… yet. One Massachusetts city is considering taking tobacco off the shelves, a choice that would make it the first town to do so. [More]
Cigarette Company Reynolds Finally Bans Indoor Smoking At The Workplace
By 10.23.14
Look around you. Is anyone you work with currently puffing away on a cigarette inside? Is smoke curling up from the cubicles nearby? Not likely, but while smoking inside at the workplace is a thing of the past for most companies today, there’s one business where it was still welcome, until now at least: Reynolds American, makers of Camel cigarettes, announced this week that its employees will no longer be allowed to smoke indoors as of Jan. 1, 2015. [More]
