Smoking in bars and restaurants is a privilege that antismoking crusaders in New Hampshire would like to snuff out, but the state's 1991 Indoor Smoking Act, which set up guidelines for segregating smoking areas with such things as partitions, is making it difficult to ignite a grass-roots campaign. ...

An experiment in high-tech smoking starts today in Richmond as Philip Morris USA launches its battery-powered "cigarette smoking system" that claims to reduce smoke, ashes and odor. Philip Morris officials say the product, called the Accord, will be distributed at 20 tobacco retail outlets to study consumer reaction in the first retail sales of the product. ...

MAC BAILEY was so fed up with the way big tobacco companies were treating him that in 1994 the fourth-generation Virginia farmer and his son started making and selling their own cigarettes. This year, Mac and Steven Bailey, working out of the converted red brick schoolhouse where Mac went to elementary school, expect to sell 190 million Bailey's cigarettes in six states, charging just over half what Marlboro does for a pack. ...

The colorful images on the boxes of Kool cigarettes depict the urban nightlife. On one, a disc jockey scratches a record. On another, people are captured dancing mid-bounce. Other trendy cigarette brands feature a blend of menthol tobacco with flavors like berry, mocha, coconut or lime. ...

Sharing an office with a chain smoker caused a Middletown physical education teacher's tonsillar cancer, entitling him to disability benefits, a worker's compensation judge has ruled. The ruling by Judge James Boyle appears to be the first in New Jersey to extend compensation for second-hand-smoke exposure beyond lung cancer. Boyle, citing recent litigation involving flight attendants and custody and visitation issues concerning a child's exposure to a parent's second-hand smoke, said the extension was justified. ...

In a state that in October will increase its per-pack tax on cigarettes to $1, opening stores that cater to smokers may seem like a questionable business decision. Tax-revenue numbers, moreover, confirm that cigarette sales in the state have declined 16 percent since 1997, the year the state raised the tax to 74 cents from 37 cents a pack. ...

For the first time since a cigarette tax was enacted in 1960, the state is preparing for an increase in the cigarette tax. That's proving more difficult than it would seem. Eager to capture all revenue from the increase, the state doesn't want any cigarette packs with the old 2.5-cent stamps floating around in stores after the increase kicks in Sept. 1. ...

Acting at the suggestion of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the 10th World Conference of Tobacco OR Health has added a special session to its already crowded agenda. This session, however, could be the most important one of the Conference since it is designed to influence President Clinton's decision regarding the proposed US tobacco deal, and ultimately the deal itself. ...

Once the height of cool, Marlboro Lights - and all 'mild' cigarettes promoting the illusion of safe smoking - are to be banned. Kamal Ahmed and Jamie Doward report on another step towards an end to lighting up in public ...

Calls for tougher controls on tobacco promotion and more help to enable smokers to quit were made today (Tuesday 26 August) at the 10th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Beijing where 1,700 scientific and tobacco control experts are meeting to discuss global strategy. ...