Prison Economy Spirals as Cigarette Prices Spike

Staff / Truthdig Aug 24, 2010 A small note of warning to our readers about the content of this video: It is definitely, as they say, NSFW. It's a bit rude. But it's also, like many things that come from the Onion News Network, good for a laugh. Happy Monday! Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Report: Philip Morris Benefits From Child Labor

Staff / Truthdig Jul 14, 2010 Human Rights Watch is planning to release a report on Wednesday that documents widespread child and forced labor practices on the Central Asian farms that supply tobacco to Philip Morris' cigarette factory in Kazakhstan. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Tanker Truck Blast Kills 230 in the Congo

Staff / Truthdig Jul 3, 2010 At least 230 people were killed and 190 injured when an oil tanker truck flipped over and blew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The blast was reportedly sparked by a cigarette as local residents attempted to collect oil spilling from the wreck. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

What Do Toyota and Big Tobacco Have in Common?

Staff / Truthdig Mar 9, 2010 Fed up with a certain automotive academic who has been challenging Toyota's claims about its car troubles, the automaker demonstrated similar problems in its competitors' vehicles and fielded a team of experts to argue counterpoint. One of those experts runs a consulting firm for hire that once found no link between secondhand smoke and cancer. (continued) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Anti-Smoking Camp Targets ‘Avatar’

Staff / Truthdig Jan 12, 2010 James Cameron's "Avatar" has made beaucoup bucks, already taking in more than $1 billion worldwide since its last last month, but there's at least one group that's not happy with certain aspects of his futuristic odyssey A campaign called Smoke Free Movies sponsored a major ad buy in Hollywood's two prominent trade papers Tuesday to protest (continued). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Report: States Slacking on Anti-Smoking Spending

Staff / Truthdig Dec 10, 2009 According to a consortium of anti-smoking organizations, U.S. state governments are raking in more money than ever from tobacco companies but aren't spending as much as they had in recent years on preventing their constituents from starting to light up or on helping them quit. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Adult Cigarette Smoking Rate Rose in 2008

Staff / Truthdig Nov 13, 2009 Blame it on the recession? Cigarette smoking among American adults had been on the decline for about 15 years, but in 2008 the smoking rate rose, bumping up slightly from 19.8 percent the previous year to just under 21 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Poster Addict for Tobacco Law

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jun 25, 2009 It's all right to be just a bit defensive when you're the addict in chief, but President Obama happens to be, hands down, the best possible spokesman for the new FDA regulation. He should embrace the role. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Big Tobacco Targeted by Bigger Government

Staff / Truthdig Apr 3, 2009 The Food and Drug Administration may soon have control over the tobacco industry, if legislation survives Senate obstacles. The bill passed by a wide margin in the House, where its principal sponsor, Rep. Henry Waxman, said, "It has taken us far too long to get to this point." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Hillary’s Replacement Is Smokin’

Staff / Truthdig Mar 27, 2009 Forgive that pun, but it is clear that Kirsten Gillibrand, junior senator from New York, played an important role in fending off the Justice Department as it sought internal research conducted by Philip Morris that proved a connection between cigarettes and cancer -- a causation rebuked by tobacco executives in testimony before Congress in 1994. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Smoke Is Clearing

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Nov 25, 2008 This week marks a decade since a consortium of state attorneys general negotiated the landmark settlement of lawsuits against tobacco companies. The results are in: Cigarette consumption has declined by 28 percent in the past 10 years. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Regulating Cigarettes, at Last

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Aug 14, 2008 Congress is known for leaving business unfinished, but rarely is a task left undone for more than four decades. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )