Cigarettes Machines in Kansas

Kansas authorities have pulled the plug on about 20 automated roll-your-own cigarette retail outlets in Kansas, citing fire hazards from the machines.

The Kansas Department of Revenue licenses the venues, which involve dual machines that allow customers to convert bags of loose tobacco and boxes of unfiltered papers into cigarettes. The Kansas State Fire Marshal has issued cease-and-desist letters noting a fire-safety law stipulating cigarettes rolled at commercial establishments had to use a type of paper that resists quick burn rates, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Friday.

Smoking People Rate in Jefferson County, Smoking Areas

The 'smoking booth" outside the Jefferson County courthouse is a busy place.Smokers huddle beneath it when it rains. On pleasant days, they stand around its edges, surrounded by a cigarette haze. A mix of visitors and courthouse employees converge for smoke breaks. Numbers released last week by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation explain the booth's popularity. In Jefferson County, 30 percent of adults smoke.

Ferguson-Florissant Could Be Smoke-Free Soon

The Ferguson-Florissant School District might follow in St. Louis County’s steps to become smoke-free by this time next year. Last week, the Board of Education heard a presentation by DeBorah Ahmed, a senior vice president of Better Family Life, a community action agency and partner with the County’s Health Department, who recommended a gold standard of a 100 percent tobacco free policy throughout the district.

Chinese Adults Smokers Rise

Three in 10 Chinese said they smoke regularly (25%) or occasionally (5%), according to Gallup surveys conducted shortly after China's ban on smoking tax free Beverly cigarettes in public places took effect last May.

This translates to roughly 320 million adults -- or more than the entire population of the United States -- and underscores the potential health crisis China faces as it tries to reduce an estimated 1 million smoking-related deaths each year in its country.

Smoking Ban and Smokers Secret

The number of people hiding their smoking habit from friends and family members seems to have risen since the introduction of the UK's public smoking ban. A poll of 2,000 people, conducted by One Poll on behalf of the Co-operative Pharmacy, found that one in 12 respondents now have a home smoking ban in place.

Dutch Cigarette Business

How close is too close when it comes to conversations between governments and the tobacco industry? In the Netherlands, politicians are being accused of allowing the powerful tobacco lobby to exercise undue influence over smoking policy.

In recent years while most countries have been tightening anti-smoking legislation, the Netherlands has partially reversed some of its laws - allowing people to smoke high quality Dunhill cigarettes in some bars again and cutting funding for anti-smoking organisations.