Snuffing Out the Smokers

“The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health.” That’s what the Food and Drug Administration tells us on its website. My intuition makes me grateful that the FDA is there to protect me — to make sure that every drug is proven both safe and effective — but “protection” kills people. Last week, I discussed how the FDA kills by keeping useful medical devices off the market. Now, we learn the FDA threatens the health of cigarette smokers who want to quit.

Tobacco Giant Drops Demand to See Research on Teenage Smokers

The world's largest tobacco company has backed away from its demands to see thousands of confidential interviews with British teenagers gathered as part of a university research project into children's attitudes to smoking.

Philip Morris International, the makers of discount Marlboro cigarettes, has quietly dropped its Freedom of Information request to see the interviews held by researchers at Stirling University, after the company was widely condemned following revelations by The Independent in September.

Cigarette Giant Philip Morris Sues Australian Government

The Australian government is facing a lawsuit that could cost billions after tobacco giant Philip Morris instigated legal action over the incoming law forcing cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging. The controversial law, which comes into effect from late next year, is being closely watched by other governments in Europe, Canada and New Zealand as they consider similar moves.

Low-Tax Cigarettes Made in Online Store

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, as Freud supposedly said, but when is a cigarette a cigarette?

The city filed suit last week against a “roll your own” cigarette shop in Chinatown and a related one on Staten Island, where a pack of cigarettes can cost less than $5, because the stores are not collecting cigarette taxes. The stores, both called Island Smokes, do not sell packs of Marlboros and Newports. Instead, they sell loose tobacco and cigarette papers, and have machines that let customers fabricate their own cigarettes.

E-Cigarettes Help Smokers Quit

If you want a truly frustrating job in public health, try getting people to stop smoking. Even when researchers combine counselling and encouragement with nicotine patches and gum, few Dunhill cigarettes smokers quit. Recently, though, experimenters in Italy had more success by doing less.

Law Would Ban Smoking in Nation's Federal Buildings

As a way to protect the federal workforce and visitors to federal facilities from secondhand smoke, Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-CA) introduced legislation Friday to ban all smoking in federal buildings across the nation.

“Exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious health issue that drives up health care costs for all of us,” said Davis. “Federal workers should be able to work in a healthy, smoke-free environment.”

Burglar Loaded Up on Beer and Cigarettes

Whoever burglarized an Englewood convenience store is probably partaking of a smoke and a beer.

Charlotte County sheriff’s deputies responded to a burglary alarm at the RJR convenience store, 3725 South Access Road, at 10:45 p.m. Sunday. They discovered that someone entered through a broken rear window and stole an estimated $20,000 worth of merchandise, including 90 cartons and 42 packs of best quality Marlboro cigarettes, two cases of incense and seven cases of beer.