Smoking | featured news

Young New Yorkers would not be able to buy cigarettes until they were 21, up from the current 18, under a proposal advanced Monday by Dr. Thomas A. Farley, the city’s health commissioner, and Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker.

Philip Morris International Inc., which markets Marlboro cigarettes outside the U.S., said fourth-quarter profit rose 11%, thanks to higher sales volumes in Asia and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Smoking rates are declining or flat in much of the world. But they're rising in Africa, where even a child can afford the cost of a single cigarette... On the sunny side of a dusty township street, next to the metal gates of a school, Lucas Moyana's little shop is just a board propped on four plastic crates like a child's lemonade stand.

A new TV advert for a brand of electronic cigarettes marks the first time in decades cigarettes of any sort have been promoted on US television. Anti-smoking campaigners fear the rapid growth of tobacco-free cigarettes could undermine years of successful anti-smoking efforts.

Poor smokers in New York spend 25% of their income on cigarettes, a new study finds. The state has the nation's highest cigarette tax and a pack there can cost up to $12 (though many smokers buy cheaper packs online). Wealthier smokers feel the sting less: those earning $60,000 a year or more spend just 2% of their money on cigarettes. Smokers' rights groups say the taxes punish poor smokers but health officials say they help many people quit.

Indonesian men rank as the world's top smokers, with two out of three of them lighting up in a country where cigarettes cost pennies and tobacco advertising is everywhere.

Colleges increasingly are banning smoking or tobacco products altogether from campus. The University of Oklahoma, the University of Oregon and Montana State University are among those which have enacted campuswide bans this year. The University of California system announced in January that by 2014 all of its campuses would ban use or sale of cigarettes and chewing tobacco.

People using electronic cigarettes, called "vaping," say the gadgets help them quit smoking. Critics call that a smokescreen for the risks.

Australia's highest court upheld the world's toughest law on cigarette promotion on Wednesday despite protests from tobacco companies that argued the value of their trademarks will be destroyed under new rules that will strip all logos from cigarette packs....

Centenarians sleep 8 hours a night, eat balanced meals. Also: Anti-smoking ads doubled help calls; breast cancer survivor can swim topless.