Cigarettes may cost more than $10 per pack in New York under the state’s latest plan to close a $9 billion budget gap. In New York City, the tax alone on a pack of cigarettes would rise to $5.85. And cigarettes aren’t the only carcinogens set for a tax bump under the proposal. [More]
smoking
FDA Wants Tobacco Companies To Submit Ingredients List By June
By 1.18.10
“Tobacco products today are really the only human-consumed product that we don’t know what’s in them,” the director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products said to the Associated Press. To address that, the agency has told tobacco companies to provide a list of the ingredients in their cigarette brands by June 2010. The FDA says it won’t publicize a lot of the data in order to protect trade secrets, but that by June 2011 it will publish a list of “harmful and potentially harmful” ingredients, at which point tobacco companies will have to start listing the amounts of each one on their products. [More]
1936 Thanksgiving Camel Ad: Smoke After Each Course!
By 11.25.09
This advertisement for Camel cigarettes appeared in the November 23, 1936 edition of LIFE magazine. It earnestly demands that you smoke a Camel after each course of Thanksgiving dinner — “for digestion’s sake.” [More]
Will This Vaccine Cure Smoking?
By 11.24.09
Meet NicVax, the opposite of the cool kids at the bus stop in 7th grade who got you to try a cigarette for the first time. [More]
Smoking Near Apple Computers Creates Biohazard, Voids Warranty
By 11.20.09 — Updated: 4.26.13
Unless you’ve just arrived in 2009 on a time machine, you know that smoking isn’t good for you. Did you know, that smoking isn’t good for your computer, either? It’s true, at least according to Apple. Two readers in different parts of the country claim that their Applecare warranties were voided due to secondhand smoke. Both readers appealed their cases up to the office of God Steve Jobs himself. Both lost.
Are Your Friends Making You Fat?
By 9.16.09
A new book out by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler—Connected: The Surprising Power of Social Networks…— looks at the way personal relationships affect your life, including everything from your weight to whether or not you smoke or drink bad beer.
Citgo Employees Smoke Cigarettes At Gas Station, Are Apparently Fireproof
By 7.22.09
Maybe these guys know something about the risks of combining fire and gasoline that we don’t, but we’re pretty sure that you’re not supposed to smoke at a gas station. Reader Chris didn’t think so either, and he sent us these pics of employees taking a smoke break at his local Citgo.
If Legislation Passes, The FDA May Soon Regulate Cigarettes
By 6.8.09
The New York Times is reporting that Richard M. Burr, the “tobacco-state senator who tried a filibuster this week against a bill that would allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the cigarette industry” has apparently given up, clearing the way for the bill to pass the Senate. A similar bill has already passed the House and Obama says he will sign the legislation.
Coalition Says Movies Try To Sell You Tasty, Cool Cigarettes
By 5.28.09
Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke reports the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the California Youth Advocacy Network and the American Medical Association Alliance have teamed to launch an ad campaign to warn against Hollywood’s tendency to shill for the tobacco industry.
After Decade-Long Delay, House Tells FDA To Regulate Tobacco
By 4.4.09
The House this week voted to empower the FDA to regulate tobacco, just in case people still smoke even after new taxes push the cost of cigarettes to over $9 per pack and the recession bankrupts everyone. Under the measure, which passed 298-112, the FDA would be able to set nicotine levels, control cigarette advertising, and require companies to provide a full list of cigarette ingredients. As usual, the killjoys in the Senate may force the House to smoke a light version of the cigarette bill…
Consumer Reports Health Blog Debunks 6 Medical Myths
By 4.1.09
Today’s “April False” post on the Consumer Reports Health Blog looks at six commonly held medical and health misconceptions. The only one I must take issue with is the one about baldness, because I am balding and I am not only a better lover, but probably the best lover. Otherwise, take a look and learn something new.
Cigarettes Just Got Fiscally Irresponsible In Addition To The Whole "Health" Thing
By 4.1.09
Smokers around the country are freaking out as a huge federal cigarette tax increase goes into effect.
That Burning From Mouthwash? It's Cancer
By 1.11.09
Great news, kids! Australian researcher Michael McCullough says you should stop using alcoholic mouthwashes like Listerine and Scope because they could give you oral cancer.
Old Cigarette Ads: Doctors, Nurses, And Rock Hudson Say It's Good For You
By 10.10.08
Man, cigarettes were awesome in the past, if these old ads collected by Stanford University are to be believed. They calmed your nerves so you’d stop humming nervously! They soothed your throat! They made you a movie star and helped you capture animals on your big game hunt! We don’t know what tobacco was made of before the mid-80s, but no wonder everyone smoked.
By 4.12.08
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Sorry, light cigarette smokers! The Second Circuit denied you class-action status in your suit against the tobacco companies. A district court judge had held that “virtually all Americans who had purchased cigarettes labeled as ‘light'” could be part of the class. The appellate court laughed at this broad certification, saying it would not “reduce the range of issues in dispute and promote judicial economy.” [Consumer Law & Policy Blog]
Violating A Hotel's No Smoking Policy Could Cost You $250
By 2.23.08
Hotels are starting to to hit smokers with hefty fines for violating their no smoking policies. Take Dan Cole. He didn’t light up in his non-smoking Marriott room, honest. Those butts in his garbage can? Um, he smoked them somewhere else and threw them out in the room?
By 1.29.08
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As more states ban smoking indoors, the “smoking shelter” business is booming. [Chicago Tribune via Fark]
