Filed under: Cigars The 2009 Tobacconists' Association of America (TAA) Convention kicks off on Sunday, March 8. Tobacconists and manufacturers from around the world will converge on the CasaMagna Marriott for four days of reconnecting, deal-making and of course plenty of cigar smoking. I'm currentl...

And now for some good news: The Long Beach, CA city council passed its proposal to loosen the local smoking ban, granting official approval to the city’s 13 cigar lounges. Even this is far too much diversity for anti-tobacco activists: Lung association spokesman Steven Gallegos disagreed, tell...

One of the latest trends in the anti-smoking movement is campus-wide smoking bans that forbid smoking even out of doors and away from buildings. The University of Oregon may soon be jumping on that bandwagon, as an official task force of busybodies has recommended that the administration follow suit...

I knew the good news would end eventually. The Virginia senate has reached a compromise on the smoking ban: The measure would ban smoking in all restaurants and bars with the exception of eateries that build enclosed areas with separate ventilation systems for smokers, Kaine said at a new conference...

The recent failures of the anti-smoking movement covered here haven’t gone unnoticed by the mainstream press. The Associated Press ran an excellent story by Kristen Wyatt today discussing how economic fears have made lawmakers reluctant to pass smoking bans that would adversely impact struggli...

Filed under: Activism, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Airlines, News For a smoker, nothing is more miserable than staring down a long flight without being able to light up. As if air travel isn't enough of a chore, various regulations and health nuts have taken away our preferred coping mechanism. A Sudanese...

Contrary to previous news, official reports in England claim that the smoking ban and public health campaigns have reduced the proportion of smokers in society — from 22% to 21%! I haven’t seen the full report, but I’m not even sure that’s within the margin of error. The repo...

I’m not surprised when I see lazy scientific journalism in mainstream newspapers. Science is hard, I get it. We should demand better from Scientific American though. Yet here’s reporter Coco Ballantyne offering a full interview to Jonathan Winickoff, the doctor behind the “third ha...

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is predictably pushing once again for a comprehensive statewide smoking ban. Not so predictably, he’s teamed up with the owners of Clarendon’s Liberty Tavern to launch his campaign: This year, he believes momentum is on his side. At a news conference Tuesday a...

With several smoking bans just going into effect in the US and debates over proposed bans going on throughout the country, it’s worth revisiting the question of how they impact businesses. (You didn’t really think I was finished with ban posts for the week, did you?) The US has fared dec...