News Archive

Our news archive goes back six months. If you don't find what you are looking for on this page, please visit the Tobacco BBS to search for more smokefree news.

City can lead state in becoming smoke free
Posted on: July 30, 2010
The recent poll showing 70 percent of Indianapolis residents support smoke-free air is further affirmation of what we all know: Smoke-free environments mean better health for all read more...

Judge: smokefree law does not violate constitution
Posted on: July 29, 2010
Judge Jan Samet has ruled that the state's smoking ban does not violate the constitution, according to lawyers in the case read more...

Cigarette sales, smokers decline
Posted on: July 28, 2010
Taking a puff in California is getting to be a drag, with health concerns and high prices pushing cigarette sales in the most recent fiscal year to their steepest plunge in a decade read more...

BHA pushes for smoke-free housing
Posted on: July 27, 2010
Meena Carr figured out years ago why her young grandson, Malik, was chronically coughing and wheezing: Her home made him sick read more...

Public Hearing On Proposed Savannah Smoking Ordinance Changes
Posted on: July 22, 2010
Savannah's City Council is considering a very controversial change to the city's smoking ordinance that would ban smoking in many places where it is now allowed read more...

Smoking ban is about saving lives
Posted on: July 21, 2010
The arguments in favor of a tougher smoking ban in public places in Indianapolis haven't changed from a year ago. It's still about saving lives read more...

Stricter smokefree law in Indianapolis may get new life
Posted on: July 20, 2010
Proponents of banning smoking in Indianapolis bars are trying to revive a City-County Council debate over the issue by showing city leaders that voters support the cause read more...

Bars, restaurants see no significant employment change under smoking ordinances in 2 cities
Posted on: July 1, 2010
The passage of smoking bans in two large Minnesota cities was not associated with job losses at bars and may in fact have contributed to higher employment in restaurants read more...

Big Tobacco very, very quiet on smoking ban
Posted on: June 28, 2010
Bill Johnson predicted calamity if the City Council extends the smoking ban to his little bar read more...

Six senators want Mass. to fold on gambling proposal
Posted on: June 24, 2010
In their quest to limit the impact of expanded gambling -- if not defeat the proposal altogether -- several local senators are crying foul over the Senate's plan to exempt casinos from the state's bans on smoking read more...

Nevada smokefree law reversal delayed
Posted on: June 23, 2010
The Nevada State Health Board on Friday delayed action on regulations that opponents claim would reverse the ban on smoking in restaurants read more...

Survey: More than 75 percent favor Michigan smokefree law
Posted on: June 21, 2010
More than 75 percent of people surveyed by the state Department of Community Health favored Michigan's read more...

State accused of plans to gut voter-approved smokefree law
Posted on: June 18, 2010
Regulations before the state Health Board today could reverse part of the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act read more...

Smoking Regulations Up in Smoke?
Posted on: June 17, 2010
When the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act passed, it meant bars had to decide whether to allow smoking, or serve food. Now an advocacy organization says regulations being considered would permit restaurants read more...

Bars in Fargo, West Fargo did fine after smokefree ordinances, study says
Posted on: June 16, 2010
The bars in Fargo and West Fargo did just fine after the smoke cleared read more...

If they can't smoke, then they can't play
Posted on: June 15, 2010
An Internet campaign is urging Michigan bar owners to protest the 6-week-old statewide smoking ban by boycotting their own lottery sales of Keno, Pull Tabs and other state games read more...

Springfield MO mayor proposes indoor smokefree ordinance
Posted on: June 10, 2010
Mayor Jim O'Neal will propose a comprehensive ban on indoor smoking in Springfield later this month read more...

Napoleon smoke-free, others settle questions
Posted on: June 9, 2010
Napoleon will join ranks of a few much-larger North Dakota towns in going 100 percent smoke-free, an issue that divided the two bars in town read more...

Smokefree laws linked to less second-hand smoke in children
Posted on: June 7, 2010
Children who live in non-smoking homes are less likely to be exposed to second-hand smoke if their communities have smoking bans read more...

Starbucks snuffing out smoking outdoors
Posted on: June 3, 2010
The international coffee giant is extending its ban on indoor smoking to outdoor patios and dining areas in California read more...

UCSF analyses detail tobacco industry influence on health policy
Posted on: June 1, 2010
Three new UCSF studies describe the wide reach of the tobacco industry and its influence on young people, military veterans and national health care reform read more...

Anti-smoking measure would not put San Antonio bars out of business, report shows
Posted on: May 26, 2010
If San Antonio's City Council adopts an ordinance that prohibits smoking in indoor workplaces, the bar and restaurant industry is not likely to lose patrons to nearby businesses read more...

U.S. Supreme Court lets theater smokefree provision stand
Posted on: May 25, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review what has been called the first state court decision upholding the extension of a read more...

Smoking Inside Washington Homes Declines by More Than Percent Since 2000
Posted on: May 21, 2010
New research released today by the Washington State Department of Health shows the number of people smoking inside homes in our state has declined by 61 percent since 2000 read more...

San Luis Obispo's public smokefree law goes into effect Thursday
Posted on: May 20, 2010
A new law that bans smoking from nearly all public places in San Luis Obispo starts Thursday read more...

Harrison-Clarksburg Board of Health Reinstates Smokefree Ordinance
Posted on: May 19, 2010
The debate over Harrison County's controversial 100 percent smoking ban is over read more...

No smoking at Pasadena's new Westgate Apartments
Posted on: May 17, 2010
The 480 apartments coming to market in Pasadena don't look much different from the competition, but they do smell different. Smoking isn't allowed anywhere on the premises read more...

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- Prevent and Reduce Tobacco Use
Posted on: May 12, 2010
HHS will work to accelerate adoption of comprehensive smoke-free laws in every state and read more...

Judge to allow smoking lawsuit against LVCVA
Posted on: May 11, 2010
A district judge has refused to dismiss a suit against the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority that involves a law permitting smoking at certain trade shows read more...

A Baseline Evaluation of Casino Air Quality After Enactment of Nevada's Clean Indoor Air Act
Posted on: May 10, 2010
Fine PM2.5 in all casino areas was above what the Environmental Protection Agency recommends as healthy read more...

Judge says ACMH Hospital can ban smoking
Posted on: May 7, 2010
A federal judge has ruled that ACMH Hospital's smoke-free policy at its East Franklin campus doesn't violate the hospital's contract with United Steelworkers Local 158-06 read more...

Veto disappoints backers of Calif. smokefree measure
Posted on: May 4, 2010
Advocates of a bill that would have banned smoking at all California state parks and beaches say they're disappointed in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to veto read more...

Children living in apartments with nonsmoking adults still exposed
Posted on: May 3, 2010
The majority of children living in apartments are exposed to secondhand smoke, even when they don't live with smokers read more...

Michigan to eat, drink smoke-free Saturday
Posted on: April 30, 2010
At 6 am Saturday, Michigan joins 37 other states that have indoor workplace smoking bans. Most of the attention has been on how it will read more...

Michigan works to educate residents about new law
Posted on: April 29, 2010
The Michigan Department of Community Health recently kicked off a Public Education Campaign to raise awareness on the statewide smoke free law, which takes effect May 1 read more...

Smokefree law clears air in N.C. restaurants
Posted on: April 28, 2010
An indoor smoking ban has resulted in an 89 percent improvement in air quality in North Carolina restaurants and bars in recent months read more...

Tobacco Control State Highlights 2010
Posted on: April 23, 2010
Each year in the United States, cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke causes 443,000--or 1 in 5 deaths read more...

Secondhand Smoke Boosts Sinusitis Risk
Posted on: April 20, 2010
Exposure to secondhand smoke appears to substantially raise the risk for chronic sinusitis, a new Canadian study has found read more...

National theater group urges high court to allow smoking in performances
Posted on: April 19, 2010
New York's Theatre Communications Group, a national service group representing 700 theater companies and 13,000 individuals, has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court read more...

Restaurants smell new opportunity with May 1 smokefree law
Posted on: April 16, 2010
“The non-smoking law offers us some new flexibility and makes us feel optimistic that business will improve after several tough years in the restaurant business as a whole read more...

Smokefree Laws Reduce Secondhand Exposure, MIs
Posted on: April 14, 2010
People are exposed to less secondhand smoke and suffer fewer heart attacks in countries and states that restrict smoking in public, a research review has concluded read more...

Smokefree law cut hospital admissions
Posted on: April 13, 2010
Toronto's ban on smoking in restaurants led to a major decline in heart and lung hospital admissions read more...

Navy nixes smoking on submarines
Posted on: April 12, 2010
Smoking and submarines don't mix. That's the message read more...

Spartanburg city leaders to discuss smokefree ordinance
Posted on: April 9, 2010
City Council will decide Monday whether to move forward with a smoking ban in restaurants and bars read more...

Pleasant Hill, Calif. adopts more stringent smoking rules
Posted on: April 8, 2010
The biggest changes apply to housing with four or more units. Smoking in indoor and outdoor common areas read more...

Grand Forks, North Dakota, council passes smokefree ordinance
Posted on: April 6, 2010
Drinking and smoking in Grand Forks bars will be a thing of the past starting Aug. 15 read more...

Brandon, MS, considers smokefree ordinance
Posted on: April 5, 2010
Smokers in a Rankin County city may be limited to where they can light up, if a proposed read more...

Iowa smokefree law upheld
Posted on: April 2, 2010
A state district court has upheld the constitutionality of Iowa's Smokefree Air Act read more...

Providence, Cap Med unite for a good cause
Posted on: March 30, 2010
...their joint announcement that they are going to tobacco-free hospital campuses effective Aug. 2 is good news on two fronts read more...

Half of states ban tobacco use in prisons
Posted on: March 26, 2010
Georgia plans to enact a smoking ban Dec. 1, according to Bronson Frick read more...

Glasgow, Kentucky, adopts smokefree ordinance
Posted on: March 23, 2010
Glasgow has become the latest Kentucky city to ban smoking in public places read more...

Anti-smokers' next frontier: state parks
Posted on: March 19, 2010
From the pines of Palomar Mountain to the sands of the Silver Strand, smokers soon could run short of options for public parks and beaches where they can legally light up read more...

Panel eyes exemptions to Kansas smokefree law
Posted on: March 18, 2010
Less than a week after the governor signed an indoor smoking ban into law, House committee members were considering changes to the read more...

Older non-smokers gain most from tobacco ban, study suggests
Posted on: March 17, 2010
A study in New Zealand showed that, three years after a smoking ban on all workplaces was introduced, hospital admissions for heart attacks among men and women aged 55-74 fell by 9 per cent read more...

Grand Forks, ND, smokefre ordinance passes first reading
Posted on: March 16, 2010
A smoking ban that would end the exemption for bars, casinos and truck stops in Grand Forks passed one of two City Council votes on Monday read more...

Kansas Governor signs smokefree law
Posted on: March 12, 2010
To advance the fight against cancer and improve the overall health of all Kansans, Governor Mark Parkinson signed into law HB 2221, the Kansas Clean Indoor Air read more...

San Francisco supervisors vote to get tougher on smoking
Posted on: March 10, 2010
Smoking soon will be snuffed out at sidewalk cafes, restaurant patios, movie and ATM lines, bingo halls and the common areas of housing complexes read more...

Kansas Supreme Court upholds smokefree ordinance
Posted on: March 8, 2010
The Kansas Supreme Court issued a decision Friday upholding Newton’s smoking read more...

Secondhand smoke raises risk of hardened arteries among 13-year-olds
Posted on: March 3, 2010
Frequent exposure to environmental tobacco smoke among 13-year-olds is associated with an increased risk of future blood vessel hardening and greater risks of other heart disease factors read more...

Officials: Weak smokefree law hurts city's hospitality efforts
Posted on: March 1, 2010
The smoking-ban debate in this city and state is getting a new spark from a fired-up group of tourism and convention officials. They're trying to light a fire under lawmakers read more...

Legislation OK'd to snuff smoking at Kansas restaurants, bars, workplaces
Posted on: February 26, 2010
Get ready to say goodbye to smoking sections. Kansas is kicking the habit by becoming the latest state to read more...

Statewide smokefree bill wins passage in House
Posted on: February 25, 2010
Lawmakers in the Indiana House resuscitated a statewide smoking ban Wednesday read more...

Smoke clears: Tobacco prevention, cessation agency survives committee review
Posted on: February 24, 2010
Senate Bill 298, which threatens to abolish the Indiana Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Agency, essentially died in the read more...

Editorial Urges Kansas Legislators to Pass a True Smokefree Law
Posted on: February 19, 2010
But as a statewide smoking ban, the House bill is a "fraud," as Gov. Mark Parkinson put it when he vowed to veto the measure if it reaches his desk read more...

Stanford study finds secondhand smoke pervasive in California's Indian casinos
Posted on: February 17, 2010
Secondhand smoke in California's Native American casinos often exceeds concentrations associated with harmful health effects read more...

Research finds hazards from secondhand smoke in bars and restaurants
Posted on: February 16, 2010
New research by the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center (OTRC) shows that concentrations of secondhand tobacco smoke inhaled in smoking rooms of restaurants read more...

New Hampshire housing group says no smoking
Posted on: February 12, 2010
The Keene Housing Authority is snuffing out smoking this spring in all of its Monadnock Region properties read more...

Brown turns up heat on bill to ban smoking
Posted on: February 11, 2010
A media blitz could start as soon as today to revive a statewide smoking ban bill believed to be dead in the Indiana Senate read more...

Lawmaker crushes smoking bill
Posted on: February 10, 2010
A bill in Hawaii that would have allowed bars to get a permit to allow smoking was extinguished Tuesday read more...

Bars in Hawaii Push For An Exemption
Posted on: February 9, 2010
A group of bar owners is asking for an exemption from the state's three-year-old workplace smoking ban read more...

Kansas Gov. Parkinson vows to veto House smoking bill
Posted on: February 8, 2010
Gov. Mark Parkinson on Friday said he would veto a House bill that would establish a statewide ban on smoking in indoor public places but allow numerous exemptions read more...

EDITORIAL: Wrong direction
Posted on: February 5, 2010
A bill introduced in the Kansas House this week is taking consideration of a statewide smoking ban in the wrong direction read more...

Kansas Clean Air Advocates Critical Of New Smokefree Bill
Posted on: February 4, 2010
Advocates of a statewide smoking ban are critical of a new bill they say would overturn local anti-smoking ordinances and actually allow smoking to return read more...

Diluted smokefree bill clears Indiana House
Posted on: February 3, 2010
The Indiana House passed a watered-down statewide smoking ban Tuesday by read more...

Statewide smokefree law proposed in Missouri
Posted on: February 2, 2010
Smoking would be banned in restaurants, bars, casinos and malls statewide under a bill Missouri lawmakers introduced Monday read more...

Bridgeview, Illinois, passes smokefree ordinance
Posted on: February 1, 2010
Bridgeview board members voted to pass an ordinance on Jan. 20 introduced by the building zoning and economic development committee that will make it unlawful to own, operate or maintain a tobacco store that permits smoking inside read more...

San Angelo, Texas, petition drive for smokefree ordinance
Posted on: January 29, 2010
After unrealized hopes of a statewide smoking ban, a local committee is trying to get a citywide smoking ban on the May ballot read more...

Cabell Co., WV expands smokefree ordinance
Posted on: January 28, 2010
The Cabell-Huntington Board of Health is giving bars and gambling parlors 30 days to comply with a new smoking read more...

Visitors authority seeks dismissal of lawsuit aimed at tobacco shows
Posted on: January 27, 2010
Smokefree The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is asking a Carson City district court to dismiss a lawsuit aimed at read more...

Smokefree Bill Could Fail in Indiana House
Posted on: January 26, 2010
A bill that would ban smoking in most public places in Indiana is in danger of failing read more...

Secondhand Smoke Exposure Linked to Sleep Problems in Children With Asthma
Posted on: January 22, 2010
Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is associated with increased sleep problems among read more...

L.A. council extends smokefree ordinance to outdoor cafes
Posted on: January 21, 2010
Smokers in Los Angeles lost another refuge Wednesday when the City Council unanimously approved a ban on lighting up in outdoor cafes, food courts and around the city's ubiquitous mobile food trucks read more...

Opponents of Topeka's Smokefree Ordinance May Drop Petition Drive
Posted on: January 20, 2010
One of the main organizers of a petition drive to overturn Topeka's new smoking ban says the group is considering dropping the effort read more...

Mobile, Alabama, hotels and restaurants going smokefree
Posted on: January 19, 2010
A nonsmoking revolution is under way in downtown Mobile, led by new upscale hotels and restaurants that are trying to attract customers read more...

American Cancer Society: Heart disease admissions down 24 percent since Smokefree Air Act passage
Posted on: January 14, 2010
A new study shows dramatic improvements in Iowans’ cardiovascular health since the Iowa Smokefree Air Act was passed in 2008 read more...

Restaurants, bars mostly complying with smokefree law
Posted on: January 11, 2010
Local health departments in central North Carolina say they have received few complaints about violations of a smoking ban for restaurants, bars and other workplaces that took effect read more...

Boone, NC, smoking law in effect
Posted on: January 8, 2010
With the Town of Boone's new smoking ordinance in place, smoking habits could change, especially in the downtown area read more...

Lawsuit pending regarding cig fee
Posted on: January 7, 2010
Big tobacco is challenging San Francisco policies yet again read more...

U.S. judge upholds most limits on tobacco marketing
Posted on: January 6, 2010
U.S. District Judge Joseph McKinley approved bans on sponsorships of athletic, cultural and social events and the use of tobacco imagery on such things as caps and T-shirts, rejecting the companies' argument that read more...

Smoking no longer allowed on State Farm campuses
Posted on: January 5, 2010
State Farm’s headquarters and Corporate South campuses are now smoke-free read more...

The gift of cleaner, safer air
Posted on: January 4, 2010
This year, North Carolina is giving its citizens an incredible public health gift read more...