cigarettes

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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...

A 52-Year-Old Piece of Evidence Leads to Killer

Vermont police say Rita Curran was killed by her upstairs neighbor

(Newser) - A cigarette butt was found next to 24-year-old Rita Curran's body in 1971. Some 52 years later, it would unmask her killer. The Washington Post reports that officials in Burlington, Vermont, on Tuesday said genetic genealogy has identified the late William DeRoos as the killer. He and his then-wife...

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...

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...

Feds Are Preparing Plan to Ban Menthol Cigarettes
FDA Makes Big Move
to Curb Smoking
UPDATED

FDA Makes Big Move to Curb Smoking

Agency announces plan to ban menthol cigarettes

(Newser) - Update: The FDA on Thursday made one of its biggest moves in more than a decade to curb smoking by unveiling a plan to ban menthol cigarettes, reports the New York Times . Now comes a 60-day period for public comments, followed by any needed revisions. It could be at least...

Report: EgyptAir Crash Likely Caused by Pilot's Cigarette

Terrorism was initially blamed for 2016 crash that killed 66; French investigators found otherwise

(Newser) - Smoke was detected on EgyptAir Flight 804 shortly before it plunged into the Mediterranean on May 19, 2016, killing all 66 aboard, and initial analyses pointed toward terrorism. Now, a report from French investigators points to something far less nefarious: a fire caused by a cigarette smoked by one...

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...

Health Groups on Philip Morris Move: 'Reprehensible'

Big Tobacco giant has scooped up UK pharma company Vectura, which makes asthma inhalers

(Newser) - If it seems odd to you that a Big Tobacco giant would be getting into the asthma inhaler business, you're not the only one. NPR notes that "health groups are suspicious" after it was announced Thursday that Philip Morris International has become the majority stakeholder of Vectura, a...

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...

Feds Consider Mandating Nonaddictive Cigarettes

Or, possibly, minimally addictive

(Newser) - Nonaddictive cigarettes could soon be a thing—a mandatory thing. The Biden administration is considering mandating that cigarettes contain nonaddictive or minimally addictive levels of nicotine, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . The move comes as the Food and Drug Administration is deciding on whether to ban menthol cigarettes; it...

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,"...

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...

Man Tries to Cross Pyrenees on Foot to Get Cigarettes

Breaking lockdown in the process

(Newser) - Determination or idiocy? You decide. A Frenchman decided to head from his home in southern France and cross the border into Spain to buy inexpensive cigarettes. But his drive to La Jonquera was stymied by a police checkpoint. Rather than return home to Perpignan and abide by the lockdown regulations...

Do You Smoke? U-Haul Doesn't Want You
U-Haul to Stop Hiring Smokers

U-Haul to Stop Hiring Smokers

Company will stop interviewing, hiring anyone who uses nicotine

(Newser) - U-Haul International has announced plans to stop interviewing and hiring nicotine users, including people who use e-cigarettes and vaping products, the AP reports. The well-known truck and trailer rental company approved the nicotine-free policy set to go into effect Feb. 1 in more than 20 states where the company operates,...

Robert Norris, 'Marlboro Man' Who Didn't Smoke, Dies

Rancher quit the job to set an example for his children

(Newser) - Robert Norris, who posed as the "Marlboro Man" in ads and commercials for years despite never having smoked, has died. He was 90. Norris died in hospice care in Colorado Springs, his hometown, surrounded by family, People reports. He was one of the first Marlboro Men, portraying a fictional...

FDA Unveils Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels

Tobacco companies blocked them once and are expected to try again

(Newser) - If the Food and Drug Administration gets its way, cigarette labels in the US are about to get pretty graphic. The agency has unveiled 13 proposed warning labels that would be prominently featured on cigarette packs and in cigarette advertising if approved, reports CNBC . The labels go beyond warning of...

Man's Shock: Amputated Leg on Cigarette Packs Is His Own

But the 60-year-old didn't lose his limb to smoking, didn't give permission for photo use

(Newser) - The images are meant to be jarring deterrents. Consider one 60-year-old sufficiently jarred. The unnamed Albanian man who now lives in France says he was alerted to the fact that some EU cigarette packets feature a photo of his amputated leg. (See the image here .) The accompanying message is...

Beverly Hills Makes a Novel Move Against Tobacco

In 2021, most sales will be banned

(Newser) - Beverly Hills has become the first US city to end most tobacco sales. The City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to snuff out sales of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, and other tobacco products beginning in 2021. The ban covers sales at gas stations and pharmacies as well as convenience and grocery...

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