Black Market Hits Cigarettes Sales

IRISH smokers purchased 4.3 billion cigarettes from companies in the tobacco industry last year, new figures show. However, the growth of the illicit trade in cigarettes was the primary reason why there were 200 million less cigarettes sold by the industry in Ireland in 2010. That is according to tobacco firm, PJ Carroll & Co, which maintained its 14.47% market share in the industry last year. According to the company’s accounts for 2010, total market volume in the industry declined by 4.7% from 4.5 billion cheapest Lucky Strike cigarette sticks in 2009 to 4.3 billion cigarette sticks last year. The company’s directors’ report states: "This decline was primarily due to the growth of illicit trade." The British-owned firm’s best known brands include Carrolls, Major and Rothmans and is part of the global tobacco giant, British American Tobacco.

The Future of Smoking Ban

Several senators in the Student Government Association spoke out against the possible future tobacco ban on campus Thursday night in the presence of University of Memphis President Shirley Raines and Vice President of Student Affairs Rosie Bingham. At the meeting, junior SGA senator Russell Born put forward a resolution that suggested The University of Memphis utilize designated smoking areas in places of low foot traffic on campus in lieu of the complete ban of tobacco. The resolution passed with an overwhelming majority. One senator in particular, sophomore Nick Mastron, was in favor of the measure. He gave a lengthy speech to the other senators before the vote.

Passenger Smokers Charged

The warning that “smoking is bad for your health” might have a new twist for airline passenger Manolín Jesús Villaverde: Smoking cost him his freedom, after he caused an airliner to divert to San Antonio. Villaverde, who turned 36 on Wednesday, was pulled off the Continental Airlines flight Tuesday night after he became unruly when told to put out cigarettes. FBI agents on Wednesday hauled him into federal court on a charge of interfering with flight crew members, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. A criminal complaint affidavit said Villaverde, of Miami, was on Continental Flight 1287 from Houston to Ontario, Calif., when he came out of the restroom smoking a cigarette.

Tobacco Fight Failed in All Solano County

Solano County and all its cities earned grades of F in cigarette smoking rates and efforts to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke, according to an American Lung Association annual report. The failing grades for smoking rates and restrictions on smoking in public spots and housing areas are contained in the "State of Tobacco Control 2012" report. In particular, the report looks at local policies that aim to reduce smoking cheap Camel cigarettes in outdoor areas, housing, and the sale of tobacco products. State law prevents indoor smoking in businesses, restaurants, schools and other facilities in Solano County. However, the lung association's regional director of advocacy Serena Chen said Solano cities and the county have not followed through on tobacco control laws and regulations.

Generation is up in Smoke

Smoking pot is now more common among 10th graders in the U.S. than smoking cigarettes, and according to the latest federal government survey one out of every 15 high school students smokes marijuana on an almost daily basis. A quarter of the eighth, 10th and 12th graders surveyed reported using marijuana in the last year. Think this uptick has anything to do with our government’s increasingly lenient policies governing marijuana use? Well, of course it does! “The upward trend in teens’ abuse of marijuana corresponded to downward trends in their perception of risk,” according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which released the survey results.