Free Republic

There's a scene in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things where the skeptical police chief, Chief Jim Hopper, is at his desk chomping on an apple. He listens to a theory that a local teen may have been kidnapped by Russian spies. Fed up, he spits out the fruit, sticks a cigarette in his mouth and lights up. But Netflix has now pledged to cut down on moments like this: The streaming content giant announced Wednesday that it will stub out depictions of smoking across all of its original shows aimed at younger viewers. The announcement comes on the heels...

Sen. Mitt Romney with a New Mexico senator on Thursday presented a bill to keep electronic cigarettes and other vaping systems away from educational and child care facilities across the country, saying youth use has reached epidemic levels. "In my home state of Utah, the use of electronic cigarettes has nearly doubled in the last five years, with young Utahns most likely to be introduced to vaping while they are in school," Romney, R-Utah, said. "By banning the use of electronic cigarettes in schools, we are taking an important step to protect the health of young people in Utah and...

<p>A glimpse of student athletes in peak physical condition vaping just moments after competing in a football game led Stamford High School Principal Raymond Manka to reconsider his approach to the epidemic.</p> <p>His Connecticut school traditionally has emphasized discipline for those caught with e-cigarettes. Punishments become increasingly severe with each offense, from in-school suspensions to out-of-school suspensions and, eventually, notification of law enforcement.</p>

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose home state of Kentucky was long one of the nation’s leading tobacco producers, introduced bipartisan legislation Monday to raise the minimum age for buying any tobacco products from 18 to 21. The chamber’s top Republican, who said he was making enactment of the bill “one of my highest priorities,” issued his proposal at a time when the use of e-cigarettes is growing and underage vaping has soared, raising concerns by health experts. The measure would apply to all tobacco products, e-cigarettes and vapor products and was co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., whose state...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is siding with public health groups suing the Food and Drug Administration to begin reviewing thousands of e-cigarettes on the U.S. market. The ruling handed down Wednesday in district court states that the agency shirked its legal duty when it postponed reviewing all U.S. vaping products by several years. The American Academy of Pediatrics, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other groups filed the federal lawsuit in Maryland last year. The groups say the lack of FDA oversight has led to an explosion in underage vaping by teenagers, threatening to hook a generation of Americans...

Sen. Mitt Romney is pushing legislation to raise the federal legal age to buy tobacco to 21, an effort backed by the tobacco industry and that health advocates hope will curtail younger Americans from smoking. Romney, a Utah Republican, said the bill was the first step in addressing an avoidable health crisis of young Americans taking up e-cigarettes as well as traditional tobacco products. The legislation would raise the age to buy any tobacco product to 21 as well as allow the Health and Human Services Department to conduct undercover compliance checks, retail inspections and enforce the law with fines.

We are just over a month into the new Disney/Fox status quo. The Mouse House has become the industry’s first mega-studio by absorbing one of its biggest competitors in a deal that has had massive repercussions, already, with thousands losing jobs and films suddenly finding themselves without a studio. But there is a lot more at play in the merger than what many were probably considering, such as Disney’s morals. Everyone knows that Disney doesn’t make films the same way that everyone else does. The films under the Disney banner have a certain limit on how far they can go....

<p>Some 50 years ago, in 1964, 42 percent of Americans smoked cigarettes. Smoking in bars and offices was normal and cigarettes were given to soldiers as part of military rations. Half of American physicians smoked. Ads for cigarettes bombarded the American public. That year, the surgeon general released a report outlining the health risks of smoking. Two years later, only 40 percent of Americans said that they believed smoking was a major cause of cancer.</p>

Starting in May, the only smoke coming out of Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom will be from the fireworks. Disney announced on Thursday that it is banning smoking, vaping, and stroller wagons in Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney water parks, and the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, effective May 1. There will be designated smoking areas outside of the entrances, and smoking visitors will be able to return to their park once they are finished, a Disney spokesperson told the Orlando Sentinel. Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, said it's "about time" smoking was banned at Disney...

It’s not often I’m happy to see a bureaucrat leave their job. That’s not entirely true, I would like to see every bureaucrat leave their job and would cheer wildly if they did. But I’m cheering one specific bureaucrat leaving his job because he was particularly dangerous at it – Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. Why would I, and why should you, care that the head of the FDA has given his notice? Because, if you’re like me, or care about anyone in the future who might be, his resignation might just save lives. Like too many people,...

A New York man allegedly mowed down a family of eight, including a baby and five children, outside a 7-Eleven store on Wednesday, killing a 32-year-old mother after the father asked the driver to stop smoking, a report said. Jason Mendez, 35, hit all eight members of the family following an argument he had with the father who had allegedly asked him not to blow cigarette smoke around his children, WCBS-TV reported. Mendez, of Washingtonville, got into his car and smashed into the Rockland County convenience store before he reversed the vehicle and plowed forward again, striking the family a...

I used to be a smoker. It was stupid, I know, but I did it for a very long time. I'm not alone, not unique, plenty of people made that same choice I did to take up the nasty habit when we were young and convinced we were invincible. Like tens of millions of Americans, I managed to quit and haven’t looked back. I would still be smoking today if not for the miracle (and it is indeed a miracle) of the e-cigarette. I vaped like a madman...and it was my bridge to a much healthier and happier lifestyle. To...

The Food and Drug Administration, alarmed by a huge increase in vaping among minors, is expected to impose severe restrictions on the sale of e-cigarette products throughout the United States — actions that will probably have a significant impact on an industry that has grown exponentially in recent years with little government oversight. As soon as next week, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is expected to announce a ban on the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes in tens of thousands of convenience stores and gas stations across the country, according to senior agency officials. The agency will also impose such rules...

New data from the U.S. government shows just 14 percent of adults overall in smoke cigarettes, but experts say there is still much more work to do to bring the number lower.

First lady Melania Trump's airplane reportedly was forced to return to Andrews Air Force Base after a smoke condition developed in the jet while it was en route to Philadelphia. Problem aboard First Lady's plane, returning to @Andrews_JBA. Press pool aboard reports "thin haze of smoke" was visible and the smell of something burning. Passengers given wet towels to breathe through. Told a "mechanical issue" was detected.

Anarchy in the USA: Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten sports a Make America Great Again t-shirt as he puffs on a cigarette before a gig in New Orleans John Lyden, best known as Johnny rotten, was spotted wearing the Trump shirt He looked dishevelled as he puffed on a cigarette ahead of a New Orleans gig The Sex Pistols frontman has publicly supported the controversial president Former Sex Pistols frontman has been causing anarchy in the USA after he was caught sporting a Make America Great Again T-shirt as he puffed on a cigarette. John Lyden, best known for his alter...

ATLANTA — It’s August here, which means things are hot, verging on swampy. And it’s cigarette break time, which means the denizens of the Barge Road Highrise senior housing complex are both hot and cranky. Really cranky...So yeah, they’re mad. Excerpt...See link

Do not be surprised if legal cigarettes made from ganja (cannabis) hit the streets soon. Major producers like Carreras are probing that and other cannabis possibilities, as increasing competition from illegally imported cigarettes continues to burn deeper into the profits of the legal trade. It is no secret that British American Tobacco (BAT), the parent company of Carrerras, has, like other major US tobacco dealers including Phillip Morris, been looking at the cannabis market and the possibility of producing mild cigarettes restricted by the legal content of the main cannabinoids — cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), although only THC is...

Smokers can no longer light up in or near public housing facilities in the U.S. due to a new rule that went into effect July 31. The nationwide ban on smoking in public housing was implemented nearly two years after the rule was passed by the Obama administration in 2016. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) now prohibits the use of cigarettes, cigars and pipes in all public housing units and common areas, as well as any outdoor areas up to 25 feet from public housing and administrative office buildings. The ban does not apply to e-cigarettes, snuff...

One in Four Americans Support Total Smoking Ban by Justin McCarthy Story Highlights 25% of U.S. adults support an outright smoking ban Support remains much higher for a ban on smoking in public places (59%) Public smoking ban popular among all groups WASHINGTON, D.C. -- One in four U.S. adults say that smoking should be made totally illegal in the U.S. -- https://news.gallup.com/poll/237767/one-four-americans-support-total-smoking-ban.aspx?version=print