A woman in a skintight dress lounged in the front row of the City Council chamber on Wednesday, sucking on an electronic cigarette and blowing out sweetly scented clouds, as if she were at a nightclub. Other people in the crowd of about 200 did the same, puffing on devices

A new Lancet report on global health was just released, and it argues strongly for the implementation of tobacco control measures, especially increasing tobacco taxes. Titled Global health 2035: a world converging within a generation, the report argues “The returns on investing in health are impressive. Reductions in mortality account

Electronic cigarettes have boomed in popularity over the last couple of years, according to New York City’s health department, but a plan to regulate the plastic devices in the same fashion as their paper counterparts has set up a debate about the untested products. The City Council’s health committee is

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, which represents over 100,000 public health officials, call on President Obama to exclude tobacco from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Read the letter here>

It’s been almost fifty years since the first Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health was released, confirming the statistical relationship of smoking to lung cancer and other serious diseases. Since then, smoking among adults has been reduced by half — yet tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of

Today is the Great American Smokeout, the day that the American Cancer Society hopes will be the first smoke-free day for more smokers.Does quitting for just one day make a difference? The latest studies say yes; a study out this week showed that smokers aged 65 and older who used

Images of rotten teeth and cancerous lungs on cigarette packs in Australia have commanded much of the recent attention in the global war between health advocates and the tobacco industry. But next year a battle over a little-known trade treaty could discourage other nations from adopting tobacco controls as stringent

Reps. Waxman, DeGette, and Pallone Renew Call for FDA Regulation of E-Cigarettes WASHINGTON, DC— Today Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette, and Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr., sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg warning that

Smoking may be under siege, but it is still the world’s second-biggest cause of preventable death. Tobacco kills nearly 6 million people every year, approximately 10 percent of all deaths. Smoking also results in hundreds of billions of dollars in economic costs from increased health care expenditure and lost productivity.

This week there has been discussions between leaders from the Pacific Rim over the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Bali, Indonesia at APEC. President Barack Obama has demanding a ‘trade promotion authority’ from the United States Congress to fast-track the Pacific Rim treaty, the Trans-Pacific Partnership.[1] The fast-track authority plays a pivotal

State Legislators sent a joint letter to President Obama to urge U.S. Trade Policy to support State & Federal policies to reduce tobacco use and promote health. Read their full letter here. Joint Letter to President Obama  

PHI Letter to White House regarding Tobacco Control and the Trans-Pacific Partnership October 3, 2013 President Barack H. Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: I am writing on behalf of the Public Health Institute (PHI), a nonprofit that generates and promotes research,

Euro MPs have voted to tighten tobacco regulations aimed at putting young people off smoking, but some measures do not go as far as originally planned. They rejected a European Commission proposal to treat electronic cigarettes as medicinal products – a move that would have restricted sales. They backed a

Tobacco sickens and, eventually, can kill if consumed as intended. Every country, the United States included, should be taking every effective step to prevent smoking. The costs and benefits of free trade are clear, but, as recent presidents, Republican and Democratic, have recognized, the long-term gains to society outweigh the

Honduras is reviving its complaint to the World Trade Organization over Australia’s standardized tobacco packaging law, according to a story by Tom Miles for Reuters. The complaint, that Australia’s tobacco-packaging requirements create obstacles to world trade, had lain dormant, but now Honduras has asked for a WTO meeting on Sept.