A previously sealed order in the Minnesota medicaid case has been unsealed. It adds to the growing evidence showing the tobacco industry deliberately misled the public. Yet these documents are still only the tip of the iceberg according to Minnesota attorneys familiar with the case. Senator Hatch needs to be urged to subpoena the relevant documents from Minnesota and make them available to the public. There should be FULL DISCLOSURE BEFORE SETTLEMENT. ...

Underage smokers may have a harder time buying cigarettes at gas stations and convenience stores across the country, under a deal announced Tuesday by attorneys general in 43 states and Exxon Mobil Corp. As part of the settlement, Exxon Mobil will hire an outside firm to conduct random checks at company-owned stores to see if employees are complying with the agreement and not selling tobacco products to children. ...

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. ...

The Marlboro Man and Joe Camel probably don't feel threatened, but an Indian cigarette that is wrapped in a leaf and sold in enough flavors to stock a modest candy store is building a Mid-South clientele. Known as a bidi (pronounced BEE-DEE), the Indian imports have enjoyed a recent flurry of national media attention fired by the sweet-scented smoke reportedly wafting through clubs, coffee shops and trendy East and West Coast neighborhoods. ...

Researchers in this country have released the results of a major study demonstrating that moderate smoking carries drastic health risks, and that women are particularly vulnerable to health problems correlated with tobacco use. A moderate smoking habit of just a few cigarettes per day heightens the risk for cardiac bloodclots-- even for smokers who do not inhale. So concludes a group of researchers in this country who released the results of a study of cumulative effects of moderate cigarette smoking last week. The study also established that smoking is much more lethal to women than to men. ...

Florida's historic victory demonstrates the significant public health gains that can be achieved through the individual state medicaid suits without having to give the tobacco industry major concessions such as those contained in the flawed global bailout now before Congress. It also shows how reluctant the industry is to have the truth about the lethal dangers of tobacco come out in a court of law. The Florida settlement,therefore, should strengthen the resolve of other states and the U.S. Congress to find out just what the tobacco industry is hiding before the flawed tobacco bailout goes any further. ...

Big tobacco is afraid to have the truth about cigarettes revealed in court. As secret documents began to be released and top tobacco executives were deposed, the tobacco companies caved in to Florida's public health demands and settled the case. Now big tobacco is looking to Congress to pass a global bailout which will prevent other states from holding the cigarette companies accountable for the harm they have caused and reveal more of the truth hidden in the secret documents. Following are excerpts from a USA TODAY article: ...

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission wants tobacco companies to run advertisements admitting they may have misled and deceived smokers by using the words mild and light on cigarette packets. ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel recently met with tobacco executives and asked them to pay for a community education campaign about the harmful effects of smoking, and to stop using by year's end the terms light and mild. ...

A recent analysis by the Licking County Juvenile Court revealed that Newark's middle-school children on the average smoke more than their counterparts in the rest of the state and nation. That study showed that nearly 30 percent of Newark's sixth-graders and 50 percent of eight-graders have used tobacco, compared with 7 percent and 35 percent respectively across the state. ...

According to a new study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, doctors are not being trained in medical school to advise patients on quitting smoking, in part because insurance often does not cover such treatment and many in medicine still feel willpower instead of therapy is the answer. ...