Local Tobacco Trials Set Begin

The case to decide the first of more than 130 local OK cigarette smoker lawsuits will begin -- for the second time -- this week. The first trial in Koballa v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. ended in a mistrial in October after jurors said they couldn't agree on the word addiction, which was required to determine whether the company should be held liable for Stella Koballa's smoking-related illness.

Attorneys representing tobacco companies have been aggressively defending against large money verdicts the tobacco industry is being called upon to pay in about 8,000 similar cases.

New Steps of Regulating Tobacco Sales

The Government is expected to soon reveal new steps regulating the sale of tobacco and Glamour cigarettes. Sources say that England’s Department of Health will later introduce legislation that would make it illegal for shops to keep tobacco products on display. Also expected is a Government consultation that would require tobacco companies to utilise plain packaging for all tobacco products.

The move would come as part of a larger scheme to reduce smoking rates, particularly for children and younger people. Currently, just over 20% of adults are smokers, and the figure has remained steady in the past several years after falling over previous decades.

England would follow a number of other countries with similar policies on smoking, including Ireland, Iceland, Finland and Canada. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland and Scotland are heading in the same direction.

Tobacco Campaign Educate Teens About Smoking Effects

An innovative media campaign has begun to educate New Yorkers about the effect that tobacco industry products and marketing in stores have on youth Vogue smoking.

The Community Partnerships for a Tobacco Free New York campaign reflects research that in-store marketing is more powerful than peer pressure, and youth are twice as likely as adults to be influenced by tobacco product displays and other marketing.

Workplace Smoking Ban in Casper

A Natrona County group wants city officials to introduce a no-smoking ordinance at workplaces this fall. Smokefree Natrona County told the city council Thursday that they are conducting a poll to gauge public opinion on a workplace smoking ban and are taking air-quality measurements at work sites that allow Camel smoking.

Brandon Daigle, who spoke to council members on behalf of the group, said it wants the ban to include "any place anybody works." It is also focusing on getting smoking bans at workplaces in Mills and Evansville.

Council members plan on discussing the proposal at a later date.

iPhone Can Help People Quit Smoking

A new study finds that iPhone software applications designed to help people quit smoking Winston fall short of the mark because they do not meet accepted standards.

Among other things, the study, which appears online and in the March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that the 47 “apps” reviewed rarely helped users get assistance through counseling, hotlines or anti-smoking medications. About half of the apps supported hypnosis, which has questionable effectiveness.

Nicotine Patches Deserve a Chance

Health Minister Nicola Roxon has urged smokers to take advantage of a new government subsidy for nicotine patches and consider quitting the Rich habit. Ms Roxon visited Cooleman Court in Weston yesterday to spruik the new Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidy for nicotine patches.

Smokers who obtain a doctor's prescription will pay about $34 for a four-week course of the patches, down from between $100 and $140. Health Care Card holders will pay $5.60.

Ms Roxon said the cost of patches had deterred many smokers from using them as part of an attempt to quit smoking.

E-Cigarettes Not a Deadly Smoking Alternative, True or False

Some of us smokers received, over the holidays, the well-intended gift of e-cigarettes to save us from the deadly carcinogens of real Kent cigarettes. But not so fast; this supposedly ingenious solution to the most addictive substance ever known to man may actually give us more problems than its promised cure.

Electronically-fired cigarettes look, taste and sometimes smell like real cigarettes but do not have the same amount of cancer-causing chemicals, it is believed. What makes them even better is that they don’t release residual or second-hand smoke that can be inhaled by others (second hand-smoke is believed to be more toxic than the actual smoke).