Tag Archives: cigarettes

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. government on Thursday released its long-awaited plan to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, citing the toll on Black smokers and young people. “The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, in a statement. He added that the …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Walmart Inc. is ending cigarette sales in some U.S. stores after years of debate within the retail company’s leadership ranks about the sale of tobacco products, according to people familiar with the matter. Cigarettes are being removed in various markets, including some stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico. Walmart, which has more than …

Gothamist reports: For years, New York City and state lawmakers have been working to make it harder and more expensive for residents to smoke. A public health group is now laying out an ambitious goal: Ending the sale of smokable tobacco products altogether. The New York State Public Health Association is among 148 organizations worldwide that signed onto a statement …

NBC News reports: The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that it will propose a ban on menthol cigarettes, an action urgently sought by tobacco opponents and civil rights groups that say African Americans have been disproportionately hurt by the industry’s aggressive targeting of Black communities. The administration also is poised to say it will seek to ban …

The New York Times reports: The corpse is gone. So are the grief-stricken woman, the rotting teeth and the man struggling to smoke despite a hole in his windpipe. Nine years after the Food and Drug Administration first proposed graphic images as warnings on cigarette packs but was thwarted by tobacco companies in a successful court battle, the agency announced …

Albany’s NBC News affiliate reports: The smoking age in New York state is going from 18 to 21. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation on Tuesday to raise the age to buy both tobacco and e-cigarettes. It takes effect in 120 days. Sixteen states have approved raising the smoking age to 21, though in some the changes won’t take effect until …

The Hawaii Herald-Tribune reports: Rep. Richard Creagan wants Hawaii to be the first state to ban the sale of cigarettes. The Hawaii Island lawmaker said he doesn’t think taxes or regulations are doing enough to stem their use. He wants to see them off store shelves all together. His bill, HB 1509, seeks to halt the sale of cigarettes by …

TechCrunch report: After a long year fighting underage use of its products, Juul Labs has today struck a deal with Altria Group, the owners of Philip Morris USA and makers of Marlboro cigarettes. The deal values Juul at $38 billion, according to Bloomberg, and injects the company with a fresh $12.8 billion in exchange for a 35 percent stake in …

Via the Los Angeles Times: The state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would raise the minimum legal age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products from 18 to 21 as part of an effort to reduce smoking by young people. Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) said he introduced the bill, SB 151, out of concern that an estimated …

Via Reuters: New York City and New York state sued United Parcel Service Inc. on Wednesday, seeking over $180 million in damages and penalties against the shipping company for allegedly delivering nearly 700,000 cartons of untaxed cigarettes across the state. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, accuses UPS of cheating the state and city of $29.7 million …

(Via Igor Volsky at Think Progress)

Via the Associated Press: The cartons of Marlboros, cans of Skoal and packs of Swisher Sweets are hard to miss stacked near the entrance of Vincent’s Country Store, but maybe not for much longer: All tobacco products could become contraband if local health officials get their way. This sleepy central Massachusetts town of 7,700 has become an improbable battleground in …

CVS has ceased selling cigarettes and their new ad about that change features a fleeting glimpse of a handsome bear couple at the 0:25 mark. (Tipped by JMG reader Matt)

Earlier this month CVS announced that it would stop selling cigarettes, a move that will take a $2B chunk out of the company’s annual grosses, at least until they decide how to fill those shelves behind the chain’s few remaining staffed check-out stations. And now there’s a petition for Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, to do the same. (Walgreens …

CVS Caremark, the nation’s second largest drugstore chain with over 7600 locations, has announced that they will phase out all tobacco sales by the end of the year. The company declined to say what will take tobacco’s prominent shelf place behind cash registers at the front of its stores. CVS Caremark will test some items and may expand smoking cessation …

In what some see as Mayor Bloomberg’s final stab at the tobacco industry, New York City today filed a massive lawsuit against Fedex for shipping cigarettes to private homes. Monday’s lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan and seeks $52 million of civil fines and unpaid taxes from FedEx, which is based in Memphis, Tennessee. According to …

The Related Companies, a New York City-based real estate group with properties across the nation, has banned smoking in all 40,000 of its rental units. Although the program will roll out gradually, it appears to be the first of this scale by a national property owner. It also seems likely to create controversy. Where past efforts against smoking have focused …

Christine Quinn’s plan to raise the smoking age in New York City is going statewide. New York would become the first state to hike the age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21 under new legislation announced Sunday. Officials moved to stop a cross-border bonanza in cigarette sales if a hike in the age proposed by the city last week …

The New York City Council is expected to introduce an ordinance today that will raise the minimum age to purchase cigarettes to 21.  The new law, if approved, will give the city the highest such requirement in the nation. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn plans to announce the city’s latest anti-smoking measure Monday morning with Mayor Bloomberg’s Health Commissioner Thomas …

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