High Court Appears Cool to Smokers' Suit

Proposed legislation would ban logos, colors

(NEWSER) - Australia is pushing for a new tool in its quest to cut smoking rates: really boring cigarette packages. The government has announced legislation that would ban logos, colors, brand imagery, and promotional text, while mandating that all packages be olive green—determined in studies to be the least appealing color. The move would “take away the tobacco industry’s final capacity to promote its product,” says a professor of public health. More»

It's safer, but the government won't let manufacturers tell you that.

(NEWSER) - Chewing tobacco has its share of health risks, but it’s 10 to 1,000 times safer than cigarettes, according to one British Royal College of Physicians report. The reason is obvious: chewers are not actually inhaling smoke into their lungs. “The Royal College of Physicians can tell you that. I can tell you that. Alvin and the Chipmunks can tell you that,” writes Steve Chapman on Reason Online . But for some asinine reason, tobacco companies can't—legally. More»

(NEWSER) - Australians may be coughing up $20 for a pack of cigarettes if officials approve a new anti-smoking plan, the Age reports. The proposal, designed to cut Aussie smoking by a third, would ban all tobacco sponsorship and online sales, devote 95% of cigarette packaging to graphic health warnings, and tax packs—currently at $13.50—up to $16.35, and then $20.15. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama praised the passage of a bill allowing the FDA to regulate tobacco products as “a long time coming," the Hill reports. The legislation, which sailed through the House this morning, grants the agency new power to regulate tobacco ingredients and marketing. "After a decade of opposition, all of us are about to achieve victory with this bill," said Obama, a former smoker. More»

(NEWSER) - Tobacco companies engaged in “deceits” and knowingly marketed cigarettes without regard for consumers’ health, violating civil racketeering laws, a federal appeals court ruled today. In upholding the verdict in a landmark case brought by the Clinton Justice Department in 1999, the court refused to overturn a district judge’s order that the companies, including Altria and Philip Morris, stop using such marketing terms as “low tar” and “light,” the Washington Post reports. More»