Smoking

State Receives $146.1 Million Payment

April 16, 2008 -- Jefferson City, Mo. - The state of Missouri this week received $146.1 million in the latest payment made possible by the historic 1998 agreement obtained by Attorney General Jay Nixon with the tobacco companies.

Cigarette butts: Photo by Lynn (CC)

The $146,168,168.10 received on Tuesday (April 15) brings the total that Missouri has received from the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) to $1,385,640,020.50. Nixon said an additional payment is expected in the next few days.    » read more »

Legislation will ban smoking in public places after July 1st

April 15, 2008 -- Iowa Governor Culver signs the Smoke Free Air Act into law.DES MOINES – Today, Governor Chet Culver signed House File 2212 – the Smoke Free Air Act -- into law, making Iowa the 14th state in the nation to pass a statewide smoking ban that includes restaurants, bars and workplaces.    » read more »

April 13, 2008 -- SAN DIEGO — Smoking puts older women at significant risk for loss of DNA repair proteins that are critical for defending against development of some colorectal cancers, according to research from a team led by Mayo Clinic scientists.

In a study being presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the researchers found that women who smoked were at increased risk for developing colorectal tumors that lacked some or all of four proteins, known as DNA mismatch repair (MMR) proteins.

Smoking: Photo by JonF119 (CC)    » read more »

April 10, 2008 -- PHILADELPHIA - Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett today joined with the American Lung Association and 45 other tobacco control, prevention and health-related organizations from across Pennsylvania to encourage Governor Rendell and the General Assembly to dedicate the new estimated $25 million payment from the tobacco settlement to be used for tobacco prevention and cessation programming.

Cigarette butts: Photo by Dave Wilcox (CC)    » read more »

April 10, 2008 -- AUGUSTA – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci today signed LD 2012, “An Act To Protect Children in Vehicles from Secondhand Smoke.” The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Brian Duprey (R-Hampden), was at the ceremony, as well as numerous supporters of the legislation.

Cigarette outside a car window: Photo by joka2000 (CC)    » read more »

April 08, 2008 -- BELOIT – Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle today signed legislation requiring cigarettes sold in Wisconsin to be fire-safe. State legislators, firefighters, public health officials, and representatives of the tobacco industry joined Governor Doyle at the Beloit Fire Station for the signing.

Man lighting a cigarette: Photo by ores2k (CC)

“I am pleased to sign a bill that increases public safety by regulating tobacco,” Governor Doyle said. “This bill will ensure that smokers reduce the risk they pose to themselves and others.”    » read more »

April 7, 2008 -- Mothers who smoke early in pregnancy are more likely to give birth to infants with heart defects, according to a study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The study, published in the April issue of Pediatrics, shows that women who smoked anytime during the month before pregnancy to the end of the first trimester were more likely to give birth to infants with certain congenital heart defects (CHDs) compared to women who did not smoke during this time period.

Women smoking: Photo by Luis (CC)

The association was stronger for mothers who reported heavier smoking during this time period.    » read more »

Hamilton County Court Says Law Is Constitutional

March 10, 2008 -- COLUMBUS - For the first time, an Ohio common pleas court has ruled that a state law which bans smoking in public places and in most places of employment is constitutional.

The ruling from the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court was filed Friday. The case is the only constitutional challenge to the Ohio Smoke Free Act that has resulted in a court decision.    » read more »

03/04/2008, FLUSHING -- The New York Mets today announced that Shea Stadium will become smoke-free during the Mets' final season in their longtime home. The 2008 smoking prohibition will encompass all areas within Shea, including the ramps. The Mets will continue to provide fans a smoke-free environment when they move into Citi Field, their new world class home, in 2009.    » read more »

March 4, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) led a group of Senators in asking the President to send the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) – already signed by the United States – to the Senate for immediate consideration and ratification. Backed by the World Health Organization, this international public health treaty is a major step forward in addressing the global tobacco epidemic.    » read more »

March 04, 2008 -- MADISON – Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters today, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and cycling icon turned cancer advocate Lance Armstrong urged the people of Wisconsin to end workplace smoking in their state, including in bars and restaurants.    » read more »

Bill aimed at so-called "light" and "low-tar" cigarettes

March 3, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) today introduced legislation to prohibit tobacco companies from using a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cigarette testing method to market their cigarettes as “light” or “low-tar.”    » read more »

07 February 2008 -- The World Health Organization is calling for all countries to dramatically increase efforts to prevent premature deaths from tobacco-related illnesses.

The World Health Organization report finds only five percent of the world's population live in countries that fully protect their residents from smoking hazards. It says that governments around the world collect more than $200 billion in tobacco taxes every year, but spend less than one fifth of one percent of that money on tobacco control.    » read more »

February 4, 2008 - Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell applauded a Caledonia Superior Court decision issued on January 31, 2008, that prohibits smoking in a building operated by the Lyndonville VFW on Hill Street in Lyndonville. The court upheld the validity of Vermont’s Smoking in Public Places law and found the VFW in violation of the law.    » read more »

January 30, 2008 -- Greater investments in state tobacco control programs are independently and significantly associated with larger and more rapid declines in adult smoking prevalence, according to a study by researchers at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and RTI International, an independent nonprofit research institute based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Researchers were able to quantify the link between comprehensive tobacco control programs and a decrease in adult smoking — observing a decline in prevalence from 29.5 percent in 1985 to 18.6 percent in 2003.    » read more »