tobacco

Government's hate on cigarettes is strongest in San Francisco. The city becomes the first in the nation to ban tobacco sales in drugstores. San Francisco's mayor Gavin Newsom is against tobacco products being sold alongside products that are meant to help improve the health of his constituents....

A new nationwide poll finds that two-thirds of U.S. voters support a $1 increase in tobacco taxes per pack. The tax could raise more than $9.1 billion in new annual revenue for states, says the report released by a coalition of public health organizations claims.

In a move headed for the Irony Hall of Fame, No. 2 tobacco marketer Reynolds American (RAI), parent of R.J. Reynolds, announced Wednesday that it's buying Niconovum, a Swedish marketer of smoking-cessation products, for $44 million. It's a sea change from recent decades, when tobacco companies...

A Florida woman on Thursday won a $300 million judgment against Altria Group's (MO) unit Philip Morris USA -- the largest award yet among 8,000 lawsuits filed in the state against tobacco companies. Jurors took three hours to return the award to Cindy Naugle, 61, of Ft. Lauderdale, a former smoker...

A major tax increase on loose cigarette tobacco has caused pipe tobacco sales to surge dramatically this year. Historically, the tobacco industry manufactured around 270,000 pounds of pipe tobacco per month. Yet, in April, it hit 566,000 pounds, ultimately skyrocketing to 1.7 million pounds in...

When 46 states agreed to a $246 billion out-of-court settlement to recover the costs of smoking-related illnesses, they joined the other four that had previously sued and won. In Canada, the province of Ontario now seeks similar compensation from Big Tobacco with its own suit for $50 billion...

Candy-flavored cigarettes have long been the bane of parents and antismoking advocates. Their allure to youths was obvious -- they had the tang of tobacco behind such flavorings as chocolate, vanilla, and lime. This week, the Food and Drug Administration's ban on such tobacco products takes effect...

New York has long been unfriendly to smokers, particularly with the ban instituted in 2003. This year, however, a renewed effort to curb tobacco sales could translate to a negative financial impact on a city that has already felt the effects of downturns in media, finance and travel...

Back in June, President Obama signed a law requiring cigarette manufacturers to display health warnings on the top half of cartons, and to cover the top half of the fronts and backs of packages with "color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking." Big Tobacco was not amused....