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Tobacco covered in major outlets  

It is now illegal for large outlets to display all tobacco products, which must be concealed in drawers that show only the prices.

On New Year’s Day, NSW became the first state to enact the ban, which has been approved by most other governments.

Here and in the ACT, retailers that employ more than 50 people, such as the Coles and Woolworths supermarkets, and their affiliated servos, must keep their ciggies under wraps.

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VIDEO: Smoking ban has yet to yield fines 

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - At Bandito's in the Fan they're putting in the final nails for a new room, just for non-smokers. What used to be a wide open restaurant is now split in half.

"We'll live, but its a little investment, you know. I expect it will be helpful," said Sean McClain, owner of Bandito's Burrito Lounge.

Sean doesn't want to violate Virginia's month-old restaurant smoking ban, which prohibits people from lighting up indoors unless it's in a separate room, or private club. Violators face a $25 dollar fine.

But according to area police departments, since the new law went into effect, there have been a grand total of zero citations issued in Richmond. And the same is true in Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover, and Petersburg. Guys like Sean, are not surprised.

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VIDEO: Is NC's new smoking ban bad for business? 

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Non-smokers are breathing a sigh of relief in restaurants and bars across North Carolina now that a statewide smoking ban went into effect this weekend.

Businesses found in violation of the law could face a $200 fine and a person who smokes inside a restaurant could pay a $50 fine.

Having an after-dinner smoke for Greg Williams means lighting up outside.

"It was a good meal," Williams said. "I just ate at the Penguin Cafe. It's a good spot. I just can't smoke in there anymore. It's pretty upsetting."

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• VIDEO: Wilmington hookah bar defies smoking ban with "reality show" 

Little has changed at the Juggling Gypsy Cafe and Hookah bar in Wilmington since the start of the smoking ban in North Carolina Saturday. Patrons continue to smoke. However, this is not an act of civil disobedience.

Bar manager Denny Best says bar management has found what it believes to be a loophole in the new ban, allowing customers to continue to smoke tobacco through the water pipes. . . .

However, buried at the very end of the smoking ban legislation is an exemption for actors on a live production set. So, thanks to a web cam and a streaming web site, the Juggling Gypsy is now a stage, and all the patrons its players.

"Everybody who comes in here is an actor. Everybody who comes in here kind of acts up anyways," Best said. "All we ask is that people sign a video release form when they sign in, every time they come in. And they're ready to roll. As an actor."

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No Complaints Leveled During Smoking Law's First Weekend  

GREENSBORO -- Local health officials said Monday so far there have been no complaints leveled against pubs and eateries that may be in violation of the smoking ban that went into effect at midnight Friday.

The new law is complaint driven, where customers who find a business not complying with the law can file a complaint online or call 1-800-662-7030.

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Tobacco Ban in effect in Huntington 

HUNTINGTON, IND. (WANE) - Another county in northeast Indiana has adopted a public smoking and tobacco ban. It took effect January 1st primarily for four buildings in Huntington County.

It will directly impact smokers when they visit some agencies in Huntington County.

"We passed an ordinance to ban smoking in any county owned buildings or county owned vehicles," said Huntington County Commissioner Kathy Branham.

That was passed during the early summer of 2009 and applies to buildings operated by the County, primarily including the Huntington County Courthouse, The Courthouse Annex, the Huntington County Sheriff's Department and Jail , and the Huntington County Highway Department.

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Smoking bans start at Northern Health  

Northern Hospital worker Barry Gook now has to walk off-site to get his fix after its new smoking ban.

SMOKERS at Northern Health sites will be forced to butt out from this week under a new smoke-free policy across its five campuses.

The policy, effective last Friday, prohibits smoking on any of the service's campuses including courtyards, entrance ways and car parks, bringing it in line with other health organisations across the state.

Campuses include The Northern Hospital and Bundoora Extended Care Centre.

Until now, smoking has been banned inside buildings but allowed in designated areas outside and in car parks.

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Some bars say just take it outside 

While restaurants and bars overwhelmingly banned smoking indoors on the first day of the city's smoking ban, some continued to allow smokers to puff away on patios, near doors and on sidewalks outside the venues.

Few business owners Friday enforced the city's outdoor smoking ban, which restricts smoking in outdoor seating areas, including patios and sidewalks in front of restaurants and bars.

Smokers flaunted the ban as they unabashedly lit up at tables lining The Strand and Postoffice Street, and many restaurant and bar owners said they were allowing patrons to smoke on patios.

Smokers lit up on the patio at the Press Box, 2401 Postoffice St., and bartender Melissa Gutierrez at Third Coast Beach Bar, 3102 Seawall Blvd., said she allowed smokers on the patio, though she strictly banned smoking inside.

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• D.C. Council takes up tighter smoking restrictions  

The D.C. Council will move Tuesday to toughen the District's smoking laws with new provisions targeting underage tobacco use and lighting up on public sidewalks, part of a broad bill that could portend a more rigid ban down the road.

The omnibus smoking legislation, up for the first of two council votes, establishes civil penalties for minors who buy cigarettes, bars street vendors from selling tobacco products, bans the sale of "blunt wraps" often used to roll marijuana and allows commercial property owners to post signs banning smoking outside their buildings.

It does not outlaw smoking outdoors. But the idea, at least, is on the table.

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Smoking, drinking up risks of gut, throat cancers 

A new study confirms that smoking raises a person's risks of the major forms of esophageal and stomach cancers, while drinking has more narrow effects.

In a study that followed more than 120,000 Dutch adults for 16 years, researchers found that smoking increased the risk of the two main forms of stomach cancer, as well as the two forms of esophageal cancer -- by anywhere from 60 percent to 263 percent versus non-smokers. . . .

The findings, published in the journal Gut, underscore general health recommendations to drink only in moderation and to quit, or preferably never start, smoking.

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Eye on the tobacco industry (PDF) 

Factors That Affect Skin Aging: A Cohort-Based Survey on Twins 

Conclusions The study of twins provides a unique opportunity to control for genetic susceptibility in order to elucidate environmental influences on skin aging. The relationships found between smoking, weight, sunscreen use, skin cancer, and photodamage in these twin pairs may help to motivate the reduction of risky behaviors.

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Association of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Childhood With Early Emphysema in Adulthood Among Nonsmokers: The MESA-Lung Study  

The MESA-Lung Study assessed a fractal, structural measure of early emphysema ("alpha," lower values indicate more emphysema) and a standard quantitative measure ("percent emphysema") from cardiac computed tomography scans. Childhood ETS exposure was assessed retrospectively as a report of living with one or more regular indoor smokers. Analyses included 1,781 nonsmokers (<100 cigarettes, 20 cigars, or 20 pipefulls in their lifetime and urinary cotinine levels <100 ng/mL); mean age was 61 years (standard deviation, 10), and 65% were women. Childhood ETS exposure from 2 or more smokers (17%) compared with none (52%) was associated with 0.05 lower alpha and 2.8 higher percent emphysema (P for trend = 0.04 and 0.01, respectively) after adjustment for demographic, anthropometric, parental, and participant characteristics, as well as adult exposures (e.g., cumulative residential air pollution exposure, exposure to ETS as an adult). Childhood ETS exposure was associated with detectable differences on computed tomography scans of adult lungs of nonsmokers.

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• 20% of fatalities caused by tobacco 

Smoking is responsible for about 15-20 percent of death in Iran and women account for 5-10 percent of these fatalities, the head of Tehran Lipid And Glucose Study Group, Amir Abbas Momenan announced here on Tuesday. Smoking reduces life span by 20 years, and about 5 million people in the world lose their life due to smoking per year, Momenan noted.

Referring to the group’s 12-year studies, he said, there has been a decrease in number of smokers in Tehran over the past 12 years.

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Smokers fired up about new 'fire safe' cigarettes 

Michigan smokers are firing up new cigarettes after a new law requiring fire-safe cigarettes went into effect Jan. 1.

But, while fire-safe cigarettes are meant to extinguish easily to prevent fires, cigarette consumers are already burning-up over the new product.

Michigan is the 49th state to add the safety regulation to cigarettes.

In Northern Michigan the cigarettes marked FSC for Fire Standard Compliant began trickling into stores during the past several months. About the same time store owners began receiving complaints about the new product.

Nicky Williams, an employee at the Next Door Store in Petoskey said Thursday — before Jan. 1 — the store had already made the change to fire-safe cigarettes.

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