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Cigarettes may be falling out of favor in high schools, but electronic cigarettes are taking their place, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A new survey found that although cigarette use in high schools declined from 24.3 percent in 2011 to 22.9 percent in 2013, the number of students who reported using an e-cigarette in the past 30 days tripled from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 4.5 percent in 2013. E-cigarettes use a battery to turn liquid nicotine into vapor, and because they produce no smoke many teens seem to be looking at...

WESTMINSTER — An unruly public hearing on a proposal to prohibit the sale of tobacco products came to a sudden and rowdy halt Wednesday evening after shouting and clapping opponents of the ban repeatedly refused the chairwoman’s request to come to order. The ban, proposed by the Board of Health in this Central Massachusetts town, would be the first of its kind in the state. It has led to angry reactions from residents who worry that it will hurt the local economy and allow government too much discretion in controlling private conduct. “This is about freedom; it’s my body and...

"The chew seen around the world," as President Obama chomped on Nicorette gum during the recent APEC summit ceremonies, has sparked outrage in China, describing his behavior as "rude" and "inappropriate."

People living in Roman Britain had healthier gums than their modern-day descendants, a feat of archaeological dentistry shows. A team at King's College London and the Natural History Museum found only 5% of adults had gum disease in the Roman, and certainly pre-toothbrush, era. Modern day smoking and type 2 diabetes are blamed for a figure of nearly one in three today. But ancient Britain was certainly not a golden age of gleaming gnashers. The smiles of our ancestors were littered with infections, abscesses and tooth decay, the study showed... The research group analysed 303 skulls from a burial ground...

I was supposed to have surgery on one of my ankles to reduce chronic pain. Eventually, I will need flatfoot corrective surgery on the right foot too. I've been ready for quite some time, and miss being able to walk without limping like an old man. The procedure would be a Sub-Talar Fusion. I have Veterans' Health Insurance only. I was less than 3 days away from the surgery date when I got a call from one of the Resident Surgeons. Apparently, he had been told that I use e-cigs and sometime actual cigarettes. My actual cig use is very...

---SNIP--- What’s the draw at this Bensalem store? Cigarettes, some priced at under $6 a pack. No more than a mile away in Philadelphia, the same cigarettes cost more than $8. “We used to get between 300 and 400 cartons of cigarettes every other night. Now, we’re getting about 1,500 cartons. I would say sales have gone up from about 2,000 packs a day to between 4,000 and 4,500 packs daily,” inventory manager Jim Watson said. That adds up at least $24,000 a day in sales, an increase of $12,000-plus since nearby Philadelphia increased its tax on a pack of...

In a Trans-Atlantic debate over cigarette packaging, North Carolina’s governor poses a rhetorical question to the Irish and French governments: Would Guinness be recognizable labeled simply as “beer?” Or would champagne sell as well in a bottle lacking its distinctive curves? Gov. Pat McCrory has written letters to French and Irish officials decrying plans in those countries to force manufacturers to package their cigarettes in plain containers. McCrory argues farmers and manufacturers in the top U.S. tobacco-producing state would be hurt by the proposals to remove brand logos and colors from cigarette boxes. “Plain packaging laws are a direct assault...

What are the odds? In 2009, Congress passed landmark legislation directing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products, aiming to cut the toll from the leading preventable cause of disease and death. Three times since, however, cigarette and e-cigarette companies have filed successful legal challenges to thwart rules intended to make their products less appealing to consumers–and less accessible to kids. The three cases, which, among other things, have blocked graphic cigarette warning labels and delayed regulation of e-cigarettes for at least a few years, were decided in favor of industry plaintiffs by the same federal judge, Richard...

CVS Caremark has followed through with its long-promised cigarette ban, as the tobacco-free pharmacy chain officially changed its name to CVS Health. "The sale of cigarettes and tobacco at CVS pharmacy stores ends today," said Larry Merlo, president and CEO of CVS, in a video statement on the company web site. "By eliminating the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products in our stores, we can make a difference in the health of all Americans." CVS (CVS) stopped selling cigarettes nearly a month earlier than expected, since the chain had previously announced the ban would go into effect by Oct. 1.

Eating too much protein could be as dangerous as smoking for middle-aged people, a study has found. Research which tracked thousands of adults for nearly 20 years found that those who eat a diet rich in animal protein are four times more likely to die of cancer than someone with a low-protein diet. The risk is nearly as high as the danger of developing cancer from smoking 20 cigarettes each day. Previous studies have shown a link between cancer and red meat, but it is the first time research has measured the risk of death associated with regularly eating too...

A trade group representing the fast-growing electronic cigarette industry is contesting a new government study that claims the largely unregulated products lead teens on a path to tobacco cigarette smoking. 
 The American Vaping Association blasted this week’s study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), describing the assertion as “plain deceptive” and calling for the paper’s retraction. The industry posits that e-cigarettes can actually help smokers quit, though they are prohibited from marketing the devices as a cessation tool. “There is no evidence e-cigarettes are gateways to smoking, and in fact, for millions of Americans they are...

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is trying to ban smoking… Everywhere. Well, at least everywhere someone might be working, so I guess that’s not as many places as you might think. (Hat tip to Obamanomics.) The CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has suggested banning all tobacco consumption at every work place in the nation… Because, ya know, the nanny-state can never be too big, right?The ban would apply to not only office buildings, restaurants, and retail stores, but it would also apply to any outdoor location (such as construction sites, landscaping work, and...

A House Democrat is calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban e-cigarette flavors and celebrity marketing practices that she says target children. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) wrote to the FDA Monday warning e-cigarette makers are trying to entice children with flavors such as “chocolate, gummy bear, bubble gum and strawberry.” She also warned the industry is using “celebrity endorsements” to encourage young people to take up smoking the nicotine vaporizers. “Due to the growth in child and adolescent experimentation with these alternative delivery systems, I urge the FDA to move quickly to ban child-friendly flavorings and youth-oriented...

A Florida jury has awarded the widow of a chain smoker who died of lung cancer punitive damages of more than $23 billion in her lawsuit against the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the nation's second-biggest cigarette maker. The judgment, returned on Friday night, was the largest in Florida history in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a single plaintiff, according to Ryan Julison, a spokesman for the woman's lawyer, Chris Chestnut. After a four-week trial and 11 hours of jury deliberations, the jury returned a verdict granting the widow $7.3 million and the couple's son $9.6 million in compensatory damages....

July 05--Anyone who wants a job next year at Anne Arundel Medical Center -- whether as a surgeon or security guard -- will have to prove they don't smoke or use tobacco. The Annapolis hospital's new hiring policy might be controversial, but it is legal in Maryland and more than half of the United States. And it's a type of job screening that is gaining favor with employers -- from hospitals to companies such as Alaska Airlines -- trying to control rising health costs and cultivate a healthier, more productive workforce. Anne Arundel Medical Center, like a growing number of...

The rapid decline in Americans' tobacco use has leveled off, and now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is calling for new taxes, regulations and warnings to force Americans to kick the habit. In a new report, the CDC found that 50 million, or one in five, Americans use tobacco every day or some days, and 60 million, or one in four, “every day, some days or rarely.”It also revealed that the use of electronic cigarettes is surging, and and e-cigarettes now account for nearly 5 percent of the smoking market.Worse: Americans aged 18-24 showed up as the top...

In a major coup for public health and safety the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has banned smoking, alcohol, and guns in the provinces it conquered just days ago, the International Business Times reports. The Sunni militant group, which seized control of Iraq’s second largest city Thursday and is pushing toward Baghdad, “has a surprisingly sophisticated bureaucracy,” according to the Atlantic. “In Raqqa, they forced shops to close for selling poor products in the suq (market) as well as regular supermarkets and kebab stands—a move that was likely the work of its Consumer Protection Authority office.” ISIS explained its...

Journalist Jenan Mousa translated highlights from the new rules set forth by the ISIS in the Nineveh province the northwest of Iraq: • "For women, dress decently and wear wide clothes. Only go out if needed." • "Our position on Shrines and graves is clear. All to be destroyed basically." • "Gatherings, carrying flags (other than that of Islamic State) and carrying guns is not allowed. God ordered us to stay united." • "For the police, soldiers and other Kafir institutions, you can repent. We opened special places that will allow you to repent." • "No drugs, no alcohol and...

PHILADELPHIA — DINNER with your children in 19th-century America often required some self-control. Berry stains in your daughter’s hair? Good for her. Raccoon bites running up your boy’s arms? Bet he had an interesting day. As this year’s summer vacation begins, many parents contemplate how to rein in their kids. But there was a time when Americans pushed in the opposite direction, preserved in Mark Twain’s cat-swinging scamps. Parents back then encouraged kids to get some wildness out of their system, to express the republic’s revolutionary values. American children of the 19th century had a reputation. Returning British visitors reported...

The disastrous smoking habits of the Irish have been highlighted in two new studies—we are far more prone than other Europeans to continue smoking after suffering a stroke and one in 10 of us cut back on food to fund our craving. […] Just what lengths smokers will go to to feed their habit is borne out in a separate study by Pfizer Ireland, which found: 10% cut back on buying food35% said they cut down on eating out24% pulled out of social engagements22% also said that they cut back on holidays to avoid cutting their smoking budget.More than half...