smoking

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New Zealand's Ambitious Smoking Ban Is No More

Nation's new government has nixed progressively rising smoking age, other anti-smoking measures

(Newser) - New Zealand's ambitious plan to eventually turn the nation smoke-free has itself gone up in smoke. The legislation passed in late 2022 mandated a progressively increasing smoking age that would effectively mean that anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, would never be able to legally light up....

Big Tobacco Not Thrilled With UK PM's Latest Push

Rishi Sunak's plan for progressively rising smoking age would effectively bar younger generation

(Newser) - If you're a British middle schooler looking forward to the day when you can wander into a Tesco and legally pick up a pack of cigarettes, you have a long wait ahead—as in forever, if Rishi Sunak's plans come to fruition. Per the AP , the UK prime...

In Canada, a Warning on Every Single Cigarette

'Bold step' will see warnings on individual tobacco products beginning next year

(Newser) - Canada has printed warnings on cigarette packaging since 1989. Now, in a world first, the country will go a step further and put warnings on every individual cigarette sold. Phrases like "Cigarettes cause impotence" and "Poison in every puff" will appear on the tips of individual cigarettes, mini...

Only 1 in 9 US Adults Still Smokes Cigarettes

Rate hit an all-time low last year

(Newser) - US cigarette smoking dropped to another all-time low last year, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers, according to government survey data released Thursday. Last year, the percentage of adult smokers dropped to about 11%, down from about 12.5% in 2020 and 2021. The survey findings...

New Zealand Has Unusual Way to Get Nation to Quit Smoking

Anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, is banned from buying tobacco—ever in their lifetime

(Newser) - New Zealand is trying to set a path for the nation to eventually eliminate smoking, and it's got an ambitious plan to do so. ABC Australia reports on a new law that bans young people now—or ever—from buying tobacco products, with lawmakers in Parliament passing the new...

Smoking Pot May Not Be as Safe as You Think
Smoking Pot May Not Be
as Safe as You Think
NEW STUDY

Smoking Pot May Not Be as Safe as You Think

Marijuana users had higher rates of emphysema than tobacco-only smokers

(Newser) - A new study is countering the "public perception that marijuana is safe" or at least "safer than cigarettes," says author Giselle Revah, a radiologist at the Ottawa Hospital General in Canada's capital. As ABC News reports, rates of emphysema, airway inflammation, and enlarged breast tissue were...

In Our Recreational Substances of Choice, a Big First

11% of US adults tell Gallup they smoke cigarettes; pot smokers surpass that for first time, with 16%

(Newser) - In the mid-1950s, nearly half of US adults copped to smoking cigarettes. After decades of PSAs and warnings from the medical community on the dangers of smoking, it's probably not surprising that that figure has plummeted to just 11%—and it's now been surpassed by Americans who say...

FDA Wants Cigarettes of the Future to Look Very Different

It proposes cutting the nicotine they contain by 95%

(Newser) - The FDA has a vision for the cigarettes of the future: They'll contain so little nicotine they'll be non-addictive, or close to it. The Wall Street Journal reports the Biden administration on Tuesday unveiled a plan that would put that ball in motion by mandating that nicotine levels...

2 American Habits Go in Opposite Directions

We're smoking less but eating more sweets

(Newser) - The pandemic seems to have had a real impact on two American habits: Americans are smoking less, but they're eating more sweets. The details:
  • Candy: US consumers spent way more than usual on sweets (gum, chocolate, etc.) in 2021, reports Axios . The National Confectioners Association puts the figure
...

Young People in NZ Will Never Reach Legal Smoking Age

New law will ban future generations from buying cigarettes

(Newser) - People who are 12 years old or younger in New Zealand today will never reach an age where they will be legally allowed to smoke cigarettes, the government says. A new law expected to be introduced next year will ban smoking for future generations, with the legal smoking age increasing...

The Pandemic Reversed a 20-Year Cigarette Sales Trend

There was a slight uptick last year

(Newser) - The pandemic wasn't good for America's lungs in more ways than one. CNN reports that cigarette sales ticked up for the first time in two decades, per the FTC's annual Cigarette Report . The increase was a nominal one—just 0.4%—but it marks a reversal in...

Tobacco Firm CEO Says He Wants a Smoke-Free World

Philip Morris chief says company aims to stop selling cigarettes in UK by 2030

(Newser) - Philip Morris International chief executive Jacek Olczak spoke out against his company's best-known product Sunday, telling British newspapers that he fully supports a government plan to eliminate smoking by 2030. He said the government should ban smoking and the company would like to "see the world without cigarettes...

NYC Might Elect First Smoker as Mayor Since '65

Kathryn Garcia says she plans to quit

(Newser) - New Yorkers will choose their candidates for mayor in primaries next week—and the New York Post has zeroed in on something unusual about Kathryn Garcia, one of the Democratic front-runners. Garcia, the city's former sanitation commissioner, smokes up to a pack of Marlboro Golds a day. If she...

Born After 2004? New Zealand May Never Let You Smoke

Nation considering various proposals as it aims to be smoke-free by 2025

(Newser) - New Zealand has proposed several plans as part of a goal to be smoke-free by 2025, including a permanent ban on sales of any tobacco products to anyone born after 2004, reports the Guardian . Cigarettes are already heavily taxed in the country. But "we need a new approach,"...

The Greediest, Angriest, Most Jealous States in America

WalletHub takes note of our sins and ranks us

(Newser) - The first day of Lent is Wednesday, and for Christians who follow the observance, it's often a time to give up a bad habit for the six weeks that follow. That may be harder for people in some parts of the country, per WalletHub , which has ranked US states...

Cigarettes Back in Play During Pandemic

After decades of decline, sales of smokes were flat in 2020, as people started lighting up more

(Newser) - The American Lung Association recently warned that smoking is a risk factor for the most severe symptoms of COVID-19. But in a case of unfortunate irony, it appears many people during the pandemic are backsliding into their old puffing habits, or maybe even starting new ones. While cigarette sales had...

State Gives Vaccine Priority to Smokers

New Jersey teachers 'incensed' at the decision

(Newser) - Teachers in New Jersey are furious over the state's vaccination rollout, which gives priority to smokers over educators. Now that some 300,000 coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered to frontline health care workers, residents of long-term care homes, police officers, and firefighters, New Jersey has begun offering vaccines...

Cannabis Exempted From SF Indoor Smoking Ban

Ordinance bans apartment dwellers from smoking tobacco at home

(Newser) - Smokers who live in San Francisco apartment buildings are going to be restricted to smoking inside or smoking outside, depending on what they're smoking. The city's Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 this week in favor of an ordinance to ban tobacco smoking in apartment buildings with three or...

Smoking in Public Just Got Banned Here to Curb COVID

Turkey says too many people are lighting up and lowering their masks

(Newser) - With more than 400,000 COVID-19 cases and upward of 11,000 deaths already logged in Turkey, the country isn't messing around when it comes to its latest numbers surge. Per Bloomberg , nearly 2,700 new cases were IDed on Wednesday—the highest daily count since the end of...

North Korea Makes Move to Preserve 'Hygienic Living'

It involves smoking

(Newser) - Despite the fact that its own leader is known as a chain smoker, North Korea has banned smoking in some public places, the Guardian reports. Yonhap News reports the law was unanimously passed Wednesday at a "rare" meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly. Specifically, smoking will be prohibited...

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