Several Indian tribes won reprieves Thursday and Friday in their attempts to halt collection of state taxes on cigarettes that Indian businesses sell to non-Indians, and both sides could claim victory following a pair of decisions.

Just two days after seizing a truck owned by a Seneca Nation businessman and the thousands of cartons of untaxed cigarettes inside it, the state tax department backed down Wednesday.Amid mounting criticism by Seneca leaders, the Paterson administration retreated and said it would return the truck and the cigarettes to Aaron J. Pierce following the seizure Monday by agents along a rural road between the tribe’s Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations.

With New York set to become the most expensive state in the nation to buy cigarettes, Pennsylvania tobacco shops could see an increase in cross-border customers coming to the Keystone State to stock up on smokes.The overall impact on sales is expected to be small however, local retailers said, because New York and New Jersey have had higher tax rates on cigarettes for years and few can afford to travel across state lines just to buy cigarettes.

In other words, squashing the urge to smoke cigarettes is an issue of mind over matter. In the beginning stages of stopping smoking, it is common to feel like we need something to “do” to replace smoking a cigarette. In fact, certain activities we do and how and where we do them can help a great deal when it comes to destroying thoughts of cigarettes. If

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports 400,000 Americans die every year from tobacco-related illnesses.The FDA is now implementing new regulations cracking down on marketing to children.So, are all cigarettes alike?According to the American Cancer Society, when it comes to deadliness, the answer is yes.New sales and marketing restrictions are now in effect on this one-year anniversary of the Tobacco Control Act.It’s the first time the federal government has been able to place public health restrictions on advertising and marketing of tobacco products.

Not your regular excuse for a cigarette after an energetic go ’round with your hubby in bed, but there you are: Terry L. Poll beat Steven Poll in skull over and over with a pry bar until he woke up and wrestled the tool from her hand.And then she went to the basement of their Oshkosh home for a smoke while she waited for the cops to arrive. Down there, for good measure, she threw a hammer at him.The 51-year-old woman has waived her right to a hearing on charges of first-degree reckless endangerment and substantial battery, both with the use of dangerous weapon. She’ll be arraigned June 24.

“It hit me a few years ago that a lot of kids today are worried about the future. I was saying this back in 1998, when I first recorded my educational video — well before 9/11. Some cigarette ads specifically target kids. This Joe Chemo ad shows kids what can happen to smokers.”“I came across some landmark studies done in the early 1990s by CocaCola for OK Soda — a brand they never launched — that indicated kids were worried about the future and had a ‘keen sense of diminished expectations.’

Two Moultrie men were apprehended Wednesday and a third suspect was sought after they allegedly stole cartons of cigarettes worth almost $3,000 from a convenience store in February.Bruce L. Johnson Sr., 24, of 820 Northside Drive, Apt. 2, was charged Wednesday with theft by shoplifting and burglary. Basil Lavoid Moore, 29, of Moultrie, was charged Wednesday with burglary.Johnson, Moore and the third suspect went to Murphy’s Express on South Veterans Parkway together in the same vehicle about 8:30 p.m. Feb. 8, according to a store employee. Johnson and Moore went to the front of the store while the third suspect allegedly went to a rear storage room.