Exposure to cigarette smoke can undermine the immune system and raise the risk for cancer, cell death and metabolic problems by harming gene expression, new research reveals.Gene expression is a crucial process in which a gene’s information is changed into the structures and functions of a cell. The study, conducted by researchers from the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR), uncovered the association by identifying links between the specific expression patterns of 323 genes (all located within white blood cells) among a pool of 1,240 people including 297 current smokers.

Intensifying the above more general population preventive measures will, in addition to reducing smoking prevalence, increase the proportion of smokers who make their homes smoke-free. Since legislation is probably not an effective or ethically justifiable approach to reducing smoking in the home, creative approaches based on persuasion, choice and parental responsibility32 are more attractive.

A total smoking ban is being implemented at Canadian prisons, starting immediately at federal maximum-security institutions and some regional treatment centres.The Correctional Service of Canada, in a statement issued late Monday, says once fully implemented, smoking will not be permitted “inside federal correctional facilities, including private family visiting units or outdoors, within the perimeter of correctional facilities.”

The urge to smoke is contagious, but quitting apparently is, too.A team of researchers who showed that obesity can spread person-to-person has found a similar pattern with smoking cessation: A smoker is more likely to kick the habit if a spouse, friend, co-worker or sibling did.What’s more, smokers tend to quit in groups and those who don’t stop puffing increasingly find themselves pushed to the edge of their social circles, the researchers found.

NEW YORK — As tobacco products make up a third of the convenience store industry’s revenue, the importance of this category cannot be underestimated. And with the ongoing — and sometimes ambiguous — changes to the tobacco sections from federal legislation and regulation, Convenience Store News was compelled to provide the industry with an up-to-the-minute resource covering this vital in-store area.

Congressman Kendrick Meek relishes a good cigar — Padrons are his favorite, he told Cigar Aficionado magazine in a 2008 profile. He hosts an annual cigar party and is known to hand out cigars to members of Congress and their staff, and the cigar industry has helped fund his recent campaigns, the magazine reported. Padron Cigars, a longtime family business, is headquartered in Little Havana in Miami.