Smuggled Tobacco Sales Decreased, the North East News

Less illegal tobacco is being sold in the North East, health campaigners have revealed. A survey carried out in 2009 and then again in 2011 showed that more than £36 million has been saved across the region in duty and tax as sales of illegal tobacco have fallen. The same survey showed that sales of the illegal goods had fallen by 39 per cent during the two year period.

South Georgia No-Smoking Policy

Some south Georgia public housing residents will soon have put out their cigarettes at home. The Lee County Housing Authority Board approved a new no-smoking policy for all 98 units in Leesburg and Smithville. Albany Housing Authority leaders told us they'll consider the same policy for their more than one thousand properties in the coming months. The Lee Board says health, safety, and maintenance concerns are behind the new rule.

Staffordshire Hospital Smoke-Free

A smoking ban is being dropped at Staffordshire's biggest hospital because it is being flouted by so many patients and visitors. Four shelters for people to light up will now be provided at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. They include one outside its cancer centre, where people being treated for the disease continue smoking. Another is planned for the maternity unit after heavily pregnant women were spotted with cigarettes by the front door.

Apartment Smoking Ban, Santa Monica Tobacco Use News

Lighting up—tobacco and medical marijuana—will be banned in new apartments, and residents of current units forced to disclose to their neighbors whether they smoke under an ordinance that won initial approval from the Santa Monica City Council Tuesday night. Gleam Davis—one of five council members who supported the ban—said she wanted fewer people to smoke. Others said they want to make apartment hunting easier for people with asthma, families with children and other potential residents trying to reduce their own exposure to second-hand smoke, which can easily drift between units.

Bad Effects of Hookah Smoking

People who smoke both cigarettes and waterpipes – dual users – lack sufficient knowledge about the risks of tobacco smoking and are at considerable risk for dependence and tobacco-related diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and stroke later in life, according to findings of a new study by Virginia Commonwealth University. The study, the first of its kind to assess trends in cigarette and waterpipe tobacco smoke based on long-term data, reveals few users perceive dangers of waterpipe tobacco. A common misconception about waterpipe smoking is that it is not as harmful as cigarette smoking. Al fakher cigarettes.