Separate studies on two continents have concluded smoking is associated with decreased productivity on the job, both in the civilian and military sectors. The studies were published in the April 2007 issue of the journal Tobacco Control.

As state funding for enforcement of Ohio’s smoking ban approaches its end, unpaid fines in Lucas County and throughout the state are piling up.Less than one third of $2.3 million in fines assessed since the law took effect five years ago has been collected. In Lucas County, roughly $13,000 has been paid — not even a dent in the $245,500 that’s owed.

Even as a debate on the ideal legal age for drinking rages on, a few health organisations are demanding strong warnings on alcohol products.These include the Indian Dental Association (IDA), Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) and World Health Organisation (WHO).Though WHO has declared alcohol as one of the largest-known cancer-causing products, it sells across the world without any warning signs.

Pictorial warnings on the packaging of tobacco products sold in Malta will be mandatory next Wednesday, although the authorities are concerned that non-compliant cigarette packets may still remain exposed for sale then.The warnings have been introduced through a legal notice which was issued in 2009 and which brings Malta in line with EU regulations. The new warnings may include colour photographs from a library compiled by the European Commission and have to cover at least 45% of the external area of the most visible surface of the packet. The warnings will be changed at least once a year to ensure their impact is not softened.

U.S. consumers spend an average of 16% of their disposable income on food, alcoholic beverages, personal care and tobacco products. These everyday goods are part of the consumer staples sector, a non-cyclical sector representing about 10% of the overall market. Consumer staples are distinctive in that they are largely unaffected by economic conditions; consequently, sales and earnings growth tends to be stable.

Levels of nicotine in the hair of infants who sleep in the same room with parents who smoke are three times higher than in babies who sleep in another room, a new study finds. The nicotine is from cigarette smoke particles that impregnate the parents’ skin, clothes and hair, which is known as “thirdhand smoke,” the Spanish researchers explained.

A panel advising the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded that menthol cigarettes are not worse for smokers’ health than regular cigarettes — but they may be more addictive, Bloomberg reported Feb. 28.To reach its conclusions — which the FDA does not have to act upon — the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee looked at marketing data from the three largest U.S. tobacco companies, Altria (a unit of Philip Morris USA), producer of Virginia cigarettes,  Reynolds American, producer of Camel cigarettes and Lorillard, as well as decades of research.

The percentage of teens using smokeless tobacco products has climbed steadily in Arizona since 2004, and the highest percentage of adults and teens using smokeless tobacco are in Apache, Greenlee and Graham counties. In Graham County, 8.63 percent of the adults and teens use smokeless tobacco, such as snuff or chewing tobacco. In Greenlee, the percentage is 9.35 percent and in Apache, 10.68 percent, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. The average nationwide is 3 percent.