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Cigarettes & Tobacco / Smoking
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6/29/2006 7:36:00 PM | 'Light' Cigarettes Don't Help Smokers 
=(0) More bad news for those who smoke "light" cigarettes: Not only are they just as bad for you as regular cigarettes, but they may make it more difficult to quit altogether. A study from the Harvard School of Public Health has shown that smokers of light cigarettes are less than half as likely to quit, and the the difference increases with a...
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6/27/2006 8:21:00 PM | Study Cites 'Indisputable' Evidence Against Secondhand Smoke =(0) The US Surgeon General confirmed what was long suspected: secondhand smoke is dangerous, leading to about 50,000 deaths a year in the US. Smoking can cause or aggravate diseases such as lung cancer, breast cancer, childhood cancers, asthma and heart disease. It has also been associated with sudden infant death syndrome. The Surgeon Genera...
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6/25/2006 8:05:00 PM | Cigarette smoking may undermine benefits of potent antiretroviral ... =(0) A new study of HIV-positive women finds that those who smoke cigarettes are more likely to have their disease progress to AIDS or to die. This, despite treatment with powerful HIV drugs known as antiretroviral therapy. A previous study of HIV-positive men found the same. The smoking women were more likely to come down with pneumonia and t...
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6/24/2006 6:15:00 AM | Colorado judge denies delay of smoking ban =(0) A statewide smoking ban for public places will go ahead in Colorado even as some business owners sue to overturn the law. A judge refused to delay implementation of the ban, which begins July 1. Some bar and restaurant owner fear it will cut into their business; others say the law is unfair because it exempts casinos.......
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6/21/2006 10:44:00 AM | Smokeless Tobacco: No Chewing, No Spitting, and Fewer Cancer ... =(0) Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds are both testing a smokeless tobacco product that would help those addicted to nicotine get around the public bans on smoking that more and more communities are enacting. These are not the chewing and spitting kinds of tobacco, but a neat pouch held against the gums. Nicotine is absorbed and while the effect is sa...
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6/20/2006 9:33:00 AM | Parental smoking still a threat to kids' lungs =(0) Smoking during pregnancy, and smoking in the home where children live, are both serious health problems according to a recent study. Mothers who smoke when pregnant have babies with 30-40% higher risk of poor lung function, and the effect can last as long as 12 years. Second hand smoke in the home is itself a risk factor for lung disease,...
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6/20/2006 9:33:00 AM | Tobacco settlement violates Constitution, federal suit claims =(0) The latest skirmish in the States vs Big Tobacco wars involves a lawsuit claiming that the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, signed by 46 states, violates the US Constitution. Filed by the Competitive Enterprise Institute on behalf of a smoker and various interests of retail tobacco, the suit alleges that the fact that states agree on somethin...
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6/19/2006 8:31:00 PM | San Diego City Council votes to ban smoking on beaches =(0) The City of San Diego, California is in the process of banning smoking from city parks and beaches. Several other California municipalities have already enacted such bans, including San Francisco and Santa Monica. While some contend the danger of second hand smoke is minimal because the open air is not confined, others approve because of healt...
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6/19/2006 8:19:00 PM | Philip Morris to get $2.15 billion back from Madison County =(0) Things are looking up for Philip Morris in Madison County, Illinois. It will get back over $2 billion of its appeal bond posted there after it lost a $10 billion judgement in a class action lawsuit. The suit claimed Philip Morris fraudulently claimed its "light" cigarettes were less harmful than regular cigarettes. The verdict was later overturned ...
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6/19/2006 2:22:00 PM | Health heavyweights urge Ontario to sue tobacco companies =(0) Inspired by lawsuits in some American states and the Province of British Columbia, a coalition of health officials is urging Ontario to sue cigarette companies to recover health care costs for smoking-related illnesses. A letter with over 100 signatures, organized by the Non-Smokers' Rights Association, accuses the tobacco industry of fraud, i...
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6/14/2006 9:59:00 PM | Extra Wrinkles may point to a heightened risk for lung disease =(0) Scientists have discovered that middle-aged smokers who have heavily wrinkled faces are at higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a result of smoking. This finding might point to a common mechanism whereby skin damage and lung damage both occur for similar reasons in susceptible people. ......
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6/14/2006 6:06:00 PM | Tobacco companies ask judge to dismiss Medicare lawsuit =(0) Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. are among six tobacco companies named as defendants in a lawsuit by United Seniors Association Inc. which seeks to have the companies reimburse Medicare for its disbursements for smoking-related illnesses since 1999. United Seniors is a lobbying group which is attempting to pursue the lawsuit on ...
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6/14/2006 5:14:00 PM | House backs bill banning free tobacco giveaways =(0) The State of Massachusetts is in the process of banning companies from giving away free samples of tobacco products. The practice encourages young people to try cigarettes, which leads to addiction and serious health problems. The State is also mandating that cigarettes sold there be self-extinguishing, because cigarette fires are the leading...
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6/14/2006 2:45:00 PM | Smokers can't file class-action against Philip Morris =(0) The Ohio Supreme Court has denied class action status to a lawsuit brought by two Ohio smokers against Philip Morris. A lower court had approved the status but that ruling was overturned. The suit, which can still proceed on its own, involved whether Philip Morris knew that "light" cigarettes are as dangerous as regular ones when it marke...
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5/30/2006 2:13:00 PM | Supreme Court to hear Philip Morris appeal =(0) The US Supreme Court will hear an appeal by Philip Morris, which claims a punitive damages judgement against the company was excessive. A jury awarded the estate of an Oregon man $800,000 compensatory damages and $79.5 million in punitive damages, and the amount was upheld in the Oregon Supreme Court. Advocacy groups say that large puniti...
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5/25/2006 10:02:00 PM | Study Finds No Cancer, Marijuana Connection =(0) Good news for some: a large study in Los Angeles finds no connection between marijuana use and cancers of the head, neck and lungs, even for heavy marijuana smokers. The finding was surprising since marijuana smoke is known to contain carcinogens; doctors surmise that perhaps the presence of THC has a protective effect against cell damage...
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5/25/2006 12:11:00 PM | Smoking might have 'sleeper effect' =(0) Statistics show that people who try even one cigarette have a higher chance of becoming regular smokers than those who do not, and this effect can last for up to three years. Part of this vulnerability could be due to psychological reasons, but scientists speculate that nicotine could affect brain pathways for coping mechanisms for stress or d...
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5/24/2006 8:54:00 AM | Carotenoids may lower diabetes risk in nonsmokers =(0) A new study finds that nonsmokers can lower their risk of diabetes by raising the level of carotenoids in their blood. Caroteniods are anti-oxidants found in such vegetables as carrots, tomatoes, and spinach. For some reason this protective effect does not work for smokers as evaluated in the study; the authors suggest that antioxidant metabol...
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5/23/2006 6:15:00 AM | Arkansas 'light' cigarette case may be headed for high court =(0) The US Supreme Court may review whether the federal or state court system should try a lawsuit against Philip Morris. The plaintiffs, two Arkansas smokers, want the case heard in Arkansas. A lower court has ruled that the case may shift to federal court which is thought to favour large corporations. The lawsuit concerns Cambridge Lights a...
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5/22/2006 2:29:00 PM | Kenya: Former Smoker Puts BAT in the Dock in Landmark Tobacco ... =(0) A farmer in Kenya is suing a cigarette company for damages resulting from a leg amputation that he blames on the consequences of smoking. After three years of legal wrangling, the suit is expected to go to full trial soon. The farmer suffers from peripheral vascular disease and gangrene, necessitating the amputation. At question is whethe...
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