Cigarette News: Philip Morris' new cigarette - Marlboro Intense

The new cigarette is Marlboro Intense. The chief executive of Philip Morris International was proudly smoking one of them for a Wall Street Journal story this week about its new products and strategies. Right now, it's available in Turkey, but don't be surprised if it turns up in this country too. Full Story

Cigarette News: Chinese Cigarettes to Go Global - Partnership with Philip Morris International

China is hoping a partnership with Philip Morris can make it a global player in the tobacco business.
After more than three years of negotiations, the Chinese government has selected three domestic cigarette brands, of the hundreds sold, to market abroad in partnership with Philip Morris International, according to PMI and the Chinese companies involved.
China has more smokers, some 350 million, than the U.S. has people. Full Story

Cigarette News: Cigarette tax not right way to curb smoking

Wisconsin - I don’t smoke, and I don’t think other people should either. Therefore, I cannot argue against the idea of a smoking ban in public places in Wisconsin, nonetheless I would never force my ideas on another. A person should have a right to decide what goes into their body. As such, even I think the new cigarette tax is quite outrageous.
From Oct. 1, 2001 to Dec. 31, 2007, the excise tax on a single cigarette was 3.85 cents, or 77 cents on a 20-pack of cigarettes according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
Yet that has changed this year, and as of Jan. 1, 2008 the excise tax on a single cigarette has increased to 8.85 cents, or $1.77 on a pack of cigarettes. This means that right now, the cost of a pack is almost $5. Full Story

Cigarette News: Customers desert smoke-free restaurant - Going out of business

BEIJING, China - Beijing's first smoke-free restaurant chain faces going out of business after its customers deserted it in droves after the ban was enforced, state media reported on Friday. The Chinese are the world's most enthusiastic smokers, with a growing market of more than 350 million, making it a magnet for cigarette companies and a focus of international health concerns. Full Story

Cigarette News: U.S. Court To Hear Review Of “Light” Cigarettes

Washington DC - The U.S. Supreme Court has come out and stated that they would hear the case against “light” cigarettes as many smokers claim that they should be able to sue cigarette makers for deception.
The grounds of the deception claim lies in the fact, according to many, that the “light” cigarettes were just as harmful as regular cigarettes. Full Story

Cigarette News: Oklahoma Bill Would Require Cigarettes to Be 'Fire Safe'

Oklahoma State Rep. Joe Dorman filed a measure for the upcoming legislative session that would make Oklahoma the 31st state to require cigarettes sold within the state to be so-called "fire-safe cigarettes," which are also known as fire-standards-compliant cigarettes. If passed, cigarettes sold in Oklahoma would have to be made made from fire-safe materials that automatically extinguish if left unattended.
Dorman, D-Rush Springs, noted in announcing his bill that the Coalition for Fire Safe Cigarettes reports cigarettes are the leading cause of home fire fatalities in the United States, killing 700 to 900 people per year. Full Story

Cigarette News: Bills envision safer cigarettes

Virginia - Cigarettes made or sold in Virginia would have to meet certain fire-safety standards by 2010, under legislation proposed by several state lawmakers.
Even cigarette maker Philip Morris USA is getting behind the legislation, which if passed would make Virginia the 23rd state to adopt such requirements. Full Story

Cigarette News: Some grocery stores won't sell cigarettes, but most of them do

Kentucky - Wegmans supermarkets, a 71-store chain in five Northeastern states, recently announced that it will no longer sell tobacco products, but smokers in Kentucky probably shouldn't worry about grocery stores here making that change.
Even though sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products have been on the decline, they remain a profitable category that many consumers expect to see. Full Story

Cigarette News: Russia plans ban on all cigarette advertsements

MOSCOW - Russia, one of the world's top markets for tobacco sales, plans to ban all cigarette advertising within five years, RIA news agency reported on Thursday.
Russia's cabinet approved a draft law to join the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, RIA reported. The full ban will be brought in within five years. Full Story

Cigarette News: Cigarette smugglers intercepted

Ireland - A LATVIAN gang smuggling cigarettes to the Irish black market was intercepted by Customs officials at Dublin airport yesterday.
The officials seized 112,000 cigarettes as they targeted passengers disembarking from a flight into Dublin from Riga.
The operation is one of a series of strikes carried out by the Customs against Irish and Eastern European gangs illegally bringing in cigarettes and tobacco through the airport. Full Story

Cigarette News: Key Democrats support increasing cigarette tax to ease expected shortfall

FRANKFORT, Kentucky -The state's two leading Democratic lawmakers would rather consider raising the cigarette tax than cutting education funding in the next two-year budget.
House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, and Senate Minority Leader Ed Worley, D-Richmond, have shown newfound interest in a possible tax increase on cigarettes since Thursday night, although both stopped short of saying they will vote for any tax increase.
Richards said there is growing support in his Democratic-controlled chamber for boosting the cigarette tax, which now stands at 30 cents a pack, one of the lowest rates in the nation. Full Story

Cigarette News: Anti-smoking group gives state cigarette tax an 'F'

ATLANTA, Georgia - Georgia's cigarette taxes are far too low to provide young smokers a good enough reason to avoid the habit, according to a new report issued by the American Lung Association.
The State of Tobacco Control 2007 gives Georgia largely poor marks across the board, though recent legislation to restrict smoking in public places earned the state a "B" in the "smokefree air" category.
The state got an "F" for its 37-cents-a-pack tax on cigarettes. The association says the average state tax on cigarettes is $1.11 a pack, and 25 states now have taxes of more than $1 a pack. Full Story

Cigarette News: Cigarette makers face flood of Florida lawsuits

MIAMI - U.S. tobacco companies have been hit with thousands of new lawsuits in Florida from smokers and their families seeking compensation before Friday's court-imposed deadline for filing individual claims in what is shaping up as a major challenge for the industry. Full Story

Cigarette News: Tennessee ending surveillance for cigarettes from other states

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -Tennessee's Revenue Department is ending its surveillance program to catch people trying to avoid higher taxes by bringing in large numbers of cigarettes from out of state.
Commissioner Reagan Farr told The Associated Press on Monday that the program accomplished its objective of educating people that only 20 packs, or two cartons, can legally be transported across state lines.
"We feel that we've been very successful in this program, and it's accomplished the majority of our goals," Farr said. "So we are winding down our regularly scheduled surveillance activities." Full Story

Discount Cigarettes News - Fire-safe cigarettes are here

BROCKTON MA — John Cardoza of Taunton has cut down on smoking with the new fire-safe cigarettes. “They keep going out,” said Cardoza, who has been smoking a pack a day “give or take” for nearly 30 years. The self-extinguishing cigarettes have been on the market for several months leading up to Jan. 1, when Massachusetts became one of more than 20 states to mandate the so-called “fire-safe” smokes. On the very day that the cigarettes were mandated in the state, a fire at a Brockton house was blamed on careless disposal of smoking materials. Full Story

Discount Cigarette News - Mayor Makes Case for Higher Cigarette Taxes

New York - Attributing a dramatic drop in teenage smoking to higher taxes on cigarettes, Mayor Bloomberg is urging state lawmakers to raise them even further to keep up with inflation.
"The single most effective way to get people to smoke less that's available to us is raising taxes," Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday at a press conference. "I hope they would let us do the same thing again." He added that higher cigarette prices discourage teenagers from smoking disproportionately more than adults. Full Story

Smokers hate new "safe" cigarettes

Massachusetts - The consensus from smokers on the new self-extinguishing cigarettes: They don't like them.
"The self-extinguishing cigarette sucks, it really does," said Nick Atlas, an Arlington resident who stopped by Dunkin' Donuts on Rte. 30 in Natick.
Atlas, who has been smoking Camel Lights for 20 years, did not know the reason his cigarettes suddenly started tasting different. The manufacturers of his preferred cigarette, like most tobacco companies, modified their product a few months ago to comply with a state mandate that went into effect Jan. 1. Full Story

Discount Cigarette News - Smokers And Retailers Hit By Cigarette Tax Hike

Maryland - If you're a smoker in Maryland, you may have noticed a those cigarettes are costing you more now. That's because the cigarette tax increased from $1 to $2 a pack Tuesday. Mike's Shell Customer Ted Echenburg says, "If I was smart I would have quit a long time ago . . . but I can't quit. "Ted Echenburg is wishing he wasn't a smoker. He's used to paying about $5 a pack . . . now he's paying about $6.He says, "I've got to do what I've got to do. I've got to pay for it or I'm not going to get cigarettes." Full Story

Discount Cigarette News - Increased Cigarette Tax Pays For Free Quitting Kits

Wisconsin - On Jan. 1, Wisconsin's cigarette tax became the 12th highest in the U.S. at $1.77 a pack.
Tobacco Outlet Plus stores across the city were closed on New Year's Day, but employees said that they worked all day changing prices to reflect the new tax before the start of 2008 business on Wednesday.
The law will bring in more revenue for the state, but health experts and anti-smoking advocates said it will give smokers more of an incentive to quit, reported WISC-TV. Full Story

Discount Cigarette News - France douses 'last social pleasure'

PARIS -- The smell of cigarette and cigar smoke may never completely disappear from Le Saint Claude, a combination bar, café, betting shop and tobacconist in southeastern Paris. But France's new smoking ban, which took effect yesterday, has altered the chemistry of the place.
"They are taking away one of the last little social pleasures we have left," said François Deille, a 65-year-old lifelong smoker who is one of the bar's regulars. "To have a little drink, watch the races on TV with my friends and smoke cigarettes - what harm were we doing?"
Like most of the patrons who usually puffed away non-stop in the bar, he was not smoking. But next to him at a rickety square table in the little bar, his pal Jean-Luc Lesbordes was in open rebellion. Full Story

Discount Cigarette News - Some still selling non-fire-safe cigarettes despite new ban

SALEM, Oregon – A new law that took effect Tuesday requires all cigarettes sold in Oregon to be “fire safe.”
But KATU easily found stores willing to sell non-fire-safe cigarettes illegally.
Cigarette retailers have known since the end of June that they would have to unload their old stock by Jan. 1, 2008, in favor of the “fire safe” variety, which make a cigarette self-extinguish when it is left untouched. The point is to prevent fires caused by unattended burning cigarettes. Full Story

Discount Cigarette News - Fire-safe cigarettes touted as way to prevent deadly fires

Texas - A new law is trying to snuff out some of the dangers of smoking cigarettes. Starting this time next year, all cigarettes sold in Texas will have to be "fire-safe." That means they have to be able to put themselves out. They look the same on the outside and when you open them up, the cigarettes also look the same. In fact, you have to take them apart to notice what makes them fire-safe. Full Story

Discount Cigarette News - New smoking ban in effect, as is old black market for loosies

Chicago - Gregory Laurence walked into a West Side gas station last month with a handful of change and what's become a routine request in some parts of the city. Offering a dollar's worth of quarters, nickels and dimes, Laurence asked for "two Newports." Fellow smokers lined up behind to make the same transaction: A couple of smokes for a dollar, or one for 65 cents. For many, this exchange wouldn't sound like a good deal, especially when a pack of 20 cigarettes hovers around $7. But in some of Chicago's most impoverished neighborhoods, the practice of buying individual cigarettes -- known as "loosies" or "loose squares" -- has long been a way of life. Full Story

Discount Cigarette News - Germany stubs out cigarettes in pubs and clubs

BERLIN, Germany - Germany started banning smoking in bars and restaurants across most of the country Tuesday, but unlike in neighbouring France establishments will be allowed to provide separate smoking rooms.
Germany's legislation is piecemeal: a ban on smoking in all public buildings, including bars, restaurants and nightclubs, applies from January 1 in eight of the country's 16 federal states.
Three of the remaining states have already brought in the ban, whilst the remaining states will follow suit between February and July -- meaning the whole country will be covered by the ban by the end of 2008. Full Story

Discount Cigarettes News: 2 states mandate fire-safe cigarettes

Massachusetts and Maine yesterday became the latest of eight states to mandate cigarettes designed to extinguish themselves if left unattended, to reduce the risk of starting fires.
The move came just days after a local blues singer, "Weepin' Willie" Robinson, 81, was burned to death Sunday after falling asleep while smoking in bed at the Jamaica Plain nursing home where he lived. Lieutenant Steve MacDonald of the Boston Fire Department said he had no information on whether Robinson was smoking a so-called fire-safe cigarette, which are also known as fire-standards-compliant cigarettes. Full Story