Tobacco Products

WASHINGTON -- The federal agency charged with keeping food and drugs from harming people may soon be asked to take a consumer product that kills more than 400,000 people a year and make it safer. The product is the cigarette -- generally acknowledged as anything but safe. Smoking accounts for nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the United States. That toll can be reduced, tobacco foes say, and they point to a bill that is expected to pass a Senate committee tomorrow as the tool to make it happen.

Massachusetts has slashed youth cigarette smoking by more than half in the last two decades, aided significantly by higher taxes that rose to $2.51 a pack in 2008. But an underworld of tobacco products, not subject to the same level of state and federal taxation, has emerged into broad daylight: Strawberry, vanilla, and wine-flavored cigars; mango and chocolate blunt wraps; watermelon, grape, and peach snuff pouches; and dissolvable coffee- and wintergreen-flavored orbs that look like Tic Tac breath mints.

Massachusetts has slashed youth cigarette smoking by more than half in the last two decades, aided significantly by higher taxes that rose to $2.51 a pack in 2008. But an underworld of tobacco products, not subject to the same level of state and federal taxation, has emerged into broad daylight: Strawberry, vanilla, and wine-flavored cigars; mango and chocolate blunt wraps; watermelon, grape, and peach snuff pouches; and dissolvable coffee- and wintergreen-flavored orbs that look like Tic Tac breath mints.

Tobacco users will have a harder time finding a place in Cohasset to buy nicotine products if Town Meeting sides with the Board of Health — and not selectmen or the Advisory Committee — on two tobacco-related bylaw changes. The Board of Health wants to stop pharmacies and any store containing a pharmacy from selling tobacco products. The board also has proposed adding electronic cigarettes to the list of tobacco products already banned from use in public places in town. About 30 communities — including Walpole and Westwood, as well as Boston, Lowell, Springfield, and...

The School Department announced yesterday that it has updated the district's 1987 smoking policy to the Tobacco-Free Environment Policy, which includes a ban on other nicotine and tobacco products besides cigarettes and expands the no-smoking buffer zone around school property. Jill Carter, executive director of the Health and Wellness Department, said although the number of students who smoke cigarettes has not increased, the use of other nicotine and tobacco products is on the rise in the district.

Tobacco users will have a harder time finding a place in Cohasset to buy nicotine products if Town Meeting sides with the Board of Health — and not selectmen or the Advisory Committee — on two tobacco-related bylaw changes. The Board of Health wants to stop pharmacies and any store containing a pharmacy from selling tobacco products. The board also has proposed adding electronic cigarettes to the list of tobacco products already banned from use in public places in town. About 30 communities — including Walpole and Westwood, as well as Boston, Lowell, Springfield, and...

The Boston public schools announced today that they have expanded the district's no-smoking policy to include a ban on most other nicotine and tobacco products and enlarge no-smoking zones around school property. Jill Cartercq, executive director of the school system's health and wellness department, said the number of students who smoke cigarettes has not increased, but the number of those who use other products to ingest tobacco and nicotine is on the rise. She said marketing companies have been targeting youth in urban minority neighborhoods, to sell...

Frustrated Massachusetts public health regulators pledged Wednesday to take their campaign for a ban on tobacco sales at pharmacies directly to state lawmakers and the Patrick administration. Five months ago, the state Public Health Council voted unanimously to direct administration officials to investigate the feasibility of prohibiting tobacco sales at drugstores, a measure now in place in about two dozen Massachusetts cities and towns. But with little evidence of movement on the issue, the council - an appointed panel of doctors, consumer advocates, and professors -...

The nation’s three biggest tobacco companies are taking aim at part of a new Worcester antismoking ordinance that would dramatically limit advertising of tobacco products. The citywide ban would prohibit any signs visible from the street that entice buyers to purchase specific cigarette brands like Marlboro or Camel, or tobacco products. Retailers would be allowed to advertise only that they sell cigarettes in general. Philip Morris USA Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and Lorillard Tobacco Co., along with the trade group National Association of Tobacco Outlets Inc., last...

A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that the government's planned graphic warnings on cigarette packages was legal and didn't violate the free speech rights of tobacco companies. That backed a previous ruling by a lower court in Kentucky but was in opposition to the ruling of a federal district court in Washington, DC, which concluded last month that the labels were unconstitutional. (The government is appealing that ruling.) Most likely the US Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether cigarette makers will be required to place the large...

A coalition seeking to raise Missouri's tax on cigarettes has submitted petitions to put an increase in tobacco taxes on the November ballot. The proposal would ask voters to raise the tax to 90 cents per pack from the current 17 cents, the lowest in the nation. State taxes on other tobacco products would also rise. The measure's backers, who include the American Cancer Society, said Friday they have submitted petitions with nearly 220,000 signatures to the secretary of state's office.

An effort led by high school students in Brookline could soon raise the legal age to buy tobacco products in the town from 18 to 19. The effort is being spearheaded by Eric Dumas, a senior at Brookline High School, and fellow members of the school's peer leadership program. The group plans to ask Town Meeting in May to increase the minimum age to buy tobacco products, including cigarettes, to 19 years old within town lines. "Since very few students turn 19 while still in high school, raising this age would greatly reduce the number of students who can get their hands on tobacco...

Worcester officials said Monday that they have not decided whether to continuing fighting three of the nation's biggest tobacco companies, after a federal judge ruled that a city ordinance dramatically limiting advertising for tobacco products is unconstitutional. Under the regulation - which was approved last May, but not yet enforced - stores would be prohibited from advertising specific cigarette brands on signs visible from the street. Signs could only note that the stores sold cigarettes.

WASHINGTON - Tobacco companies will be required to report the levels of dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes, chew, and other products under the latest rules designed to tighten regulation of the tobacco industry. The preliminary guidance issued Friday by the Food and Drug Administration marks the first time tobacco makers will be required to report quantities of 20 chemicals associated with cancer, lung disease, and other health problems. The FDA will require companies to display the information in a consumer-friendly format by next April.

Frustrated Massachusetts public health regulators pledged Wednesday to take their campaign for a ban on tobacco sales at pharmacies directly to state lawmakers and the Patrick administration. Five months ago, the state Public Health Council voted unanimously to direct administration officials to investigate the feasibility of prohibiting tobacco sales at drug stores, a measure now in place in about two dozen Massachusetts cities and towns. But with little evidence of movement on the issue, the council - an appointed panel of doctors, consumer advocates, and professors - decided Wednesday...

A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that the government's planned graphic warnings on cigarette packages was legal and didn't violate the free speech rights of tobacco companies. That backed a previous ruling by a lower court in Kentucky but was in opposition to the ruling of a federal district court in Washington, DC, which concluded last month that the labels were unconstitutional. (The government is appealing that ruling.) Most likely the US Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether cigarette makers will be required to place the large gory labels...

A coalition seeking to raise Missouri's tax on cigarettes has submitted petitions to put an increase in tobacco taxes on the November ballot. The proposal would ask voters to raise the tax to 90 cents per pack from the current 17 cents, the lowest in the nation. State taxes on other tobacco products would also rise. The measure's backers, who include the American Cancer Society, said Friday they have submitted petitions with nearly 220,000 signatures to the secretary of state's office.

Several tobacco companies and others have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Providence challenging new city regulations that tighten rules for selling tobacco. The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Providence targets ordinances banning pricing strategies, such as "buy one, get one free," and sales of non-cigarette tobacco products marketed as having a fruit or candy flavor. The city says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned flavored cigarettes in 2009. Mayor Angel Taveras (tuh-VEHR'-us)

The School Department announced yesterday that it has updated the district's 1987 smoking policy to the Tobacco-Free Environment Policy, which includes a ban on other nicotine and tobacco products besides cigarettes and expands the no-smoking buffer zone around school property. Jill Carter, executive director of the Health and Wellness Department, said although the number of students who smoke cigarettes has not increased, the use of other nicotine and tobacco products is on the rise in the district.