Malibu businesses that sell tobacco products to minors could soon face severe consequences at the local level. The City Council on Monday voted unanimously for city staff to draft an ordinance proposal requiring retailers to obtain licenses if they want to sell tobacco products. Those found selling the items to minors could have their licenses suspended or revoked and possibly be forced to pay a fine.

A Saginaw man remained jailed today in connection with an armed robbery last night at a southwest Saginaw 7-Eleven.Saginaw Police Detective Sgt. Brent VanderHaar said a man entered the convenience store, 803 S. Wheeler, about 9 p.m. and requested some tobacco products.Store workers refused the man service, said VanderHaar, who did not know why the man was denied service. At that point, the man produced a handgun and took the items, VanderHaar said.

Lorillard Inc.’s second-quarter earnings rose 11% as the cigarette maker’s sales benefited from increased volume and higher selling prices.The No. 3 U.S. cigarette producer by revenue dominates the market for menthol cigarettes, which are increasingly popular with adolescents and young adults, though overall smoking rates have declined. Bigger rivals Altria Group Inc. (MO) and Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) last week both reported weaker quarterly results amid charges. Altria and Reynolds have been relying more on the popularity of smokeless-tobacco products as cigarette volume continues to decline.

With noted objections from tobacco industry representatives, the Food and Drug Administration’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) gave a thumbs up to revisions to its report on menthol today.The TPSAC’s Menthol Report was released in March and recommended that removing menthol cigarettes from the market would benefit public health. At today’s meeting, the TPSAC members discussed revisions to the report — which were primarily editorial in nature and do not change the March recommendation — and approved those revisions by a 8-to-0 vote.

Although cigarettes have spent the most time under the microscope at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), other tobacco products have gained headway under less scrutiny.David Howard, director of communications at Reynolds America Inc. is optimistic that the market for dissolvable tobacco lozenges is growing, according to Marketwire. “These products provide smokers with an option to enjoy the pleasure of nicotine without bothering others,” Howard said. “No secondhand smoke. No spitting. No cigarette butt.”

In order to promote a healthful environment and to protect the constituents of the municipality from the hazards of tobacco smoke, a balanced policy on the use, sale, advertisement and distribution of tobacco products was proposed.The ordinance known as the “Smoke Free Ordinance of the Municipality” aims to safeguard public health and ensure the well being of all its constituents by protecting them from harmful effects of smoking and tobacco consumption.

Maine Attorney General William Schneider announced an agreement on July 11 with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products to prevent the sale and distribution of tobacco to minors.The agreement is a one-year contract with two one-year options worth a total of $2.1 million if all of the options are exercised. The funds will be used to supplement existing compliance efforts and will be administered by Schneider’s office on behalf of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

A case alleging that a tobacco powerhouse has not fulfilled certain settlement obligations is set for a non-jury trial Monday in Jackson County Chancery Court before Judge Jaye Bradley.Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed the lawsuit in February 2010 that states R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., an indirect subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. and the second-largest tobacco company in the United States, low-balled its 1997 base-year profit and has improperly reported shipments of donated and lost tobacco products.