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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tobacco companies designed cigarettes to appeal to women's desires to be thin and healthy in ways that went "far beyond marketing and advertising," health researchers said on Monday. They said internal documents released by tobacco companies under a 1998 court settlement show the companies created cigarettes, including "slim" and so-called "light" brands, in part to attract women. "These internal documents reveal that the tobacco industry's targeting of women goes far beyond marketing and advertising," said Carrie Murray Carpenter of the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the study. Writing in the June issue of the journal...

The worldwide smoking rate among women is expected to rise 20 percent by 2025, the report says. BOSTON (May 31) - Tobacco companies did elaborate research on women to figure out how to hook them on smoking. Researchers at Harvard University's School of Public Health said they examined more than 7 million documents - some dating back to 1969, others as recent as 2000 - for new details about the industry's efforts to lure more women smokers. ''They did so much research in such a sophisticated way,'' she said. ''Women should know how far the tobacco industry went to exploit...

A widow whose husband died from lung cancer has lost her legal battle against one of the world's biggest tobacco companies.Margaret McTear claimed Imperial Tobacco failed to warn her husband Alfred that smoking could give him cancer. But the judge in the case said: "The pursuer's case failed on every issue on which I would have needed to find in her favour." Alfred McTear began the action against Imperial in 1993 and his wife continued it after his death that year. Mrs McTear, 60, of Beith, Ayrshire had demanded £500,000 in damages. She said she was disappointed at the judgement...

If you're steamed up about Mayor Bloomberg's smoking ban in bars and restaurants, mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner wants you to light up with him at the voting booth. "The smoking ban was insensitive to the needs of small outer-borough pubs, like the ones in my district for whom accommodating smokers is part of the rationale for their business," said Rep. Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens). Weiner, who doesn't smoke, said family-owned bars and small establishments "should have the right to have smoking" - a surprising move for a Democrat to take in the primary. If elected, Weiner said, he would advocate changes...

A judge tossed out a lawsuit brought by a 115-year-old private club that sought to strike down no-smoking laws so it could continue to honor its members - who include Walter Cronkite and Carol Burnett - with ceremonies that include lighting up. The Players Club is no more entitled to special privileges with city and state health inspectors enforcing the laws than are pro-tobacco organizations that tried unsuccessfully to overturn them, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said Wednesday. "Individuals have no 'fundamental' constitutional right to smoke tobacco," the judge wrote.

Smoking Ban Alerts  The following states have strong bills that include 100% smokefree workplaces and/or restaurants and/or bars; OR repeals preemption: Alabama: SB413 (restaurants and bars)—Favorable 2nd reading in committee Colorado: SB207 (restaurants and bars)—Amended and passed House Committee Connecticut: HB5067 (bingo) District of Columbia: B16-0187 (workplaces, restaurants, and bars), B16-0193 (workplaces, restaurants, and bars) Georgia: HB426 (workplaces, restaurants, and bars)—Died Illinois: HB672 (repeals preemption)—Passed Senate Health Committee; SB254 (repeals preemption)—Passed House Local Government Committee Maine: LD886 (workplaces) Minnesota: SF404 (workplaces, restaurants, and bars;  HF412 (workplaces, restaurants, and bars) Michigan: SB394/HB4624 (restaurants), SB395/HB4625 (workplaces) New York: S4375 (casinos) North Carolina:...

Firing Smokers - Reading Beyond the Headlines Trend: You smoke? You're fired!May 11, 2005 By Stephanie Armour More companies are taking action against employees who smoke off-duty, and, in an extreme trend that some call troubling, some are now firing or banning the hiring of workers who light up even on their own time.The outright bans raise new questions about how far companies can go in regulating workers' behavior when they are off the clock. The crackdown is coming in part as a way to curb soaring health care costs, but critics say companies are violating workers' privacy rights....

The National Conference on Tobacco and Health, held in downtown Chicago last week (May 4th through the 6th), produced a historic and very unusual experience for many Chicagoans.  The Sheraton Chicago and Hyatt Regency Chicago hotels, which hosted this convention, became entirely non-smoking for three days with no warning.  The only exceptions were their smoking guest rooms.   The purpose of this National Conference was "...To help improve and sustain the effectiveness and reach of tobacco control programs and activities in the United States."  For a registration fee of $575 per attendee, approximately 3200 people from all parts of our...

WHEELING - The Friday, May 27 enactment date of the Wheeling-Ohio County Indoor Air Regulation is now in jeopardy as the regulation was struck down in a Wednesday court hearing. Ohio County Circuit Court Judge Ronald Wilson ruled that the makeup of the Wheeling-Ohio County Board of Health was unconstitutional because board members did not take oaths of office when they began new terms as board members, meaning the actions they have taken are void. "An oath needs to be taken for every term of office," said Paul Harris, the attorney representing the Ohio County Tavern and Restaurant Association. The...

Cigarette packs could soon carry distrurbing pictures of cancer-ravaged organs. A new study shows smokers have become immune to current warnings on packets and calls for a radical re-think. It could lead to the use of images pictures of damaged hearts and lungs to push home the 'smoking kills' message. Experts at the Cancer Research UK Centre for Tobacco Control Research in Scotland led the European-wide investigation. Interviews were conducted with 56 focus groups in Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Spain and Sweden. Participants looked at pre-2001 "small" warnings on cigarette packs and current large "black and white" warnings. The results...

** PROTEST ANNOUNCEMENT ** CHARGE OF THE CIGARETTE LIGHTER BRIGADE WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18TH AT 12 NOON CITY HALL (East Gate) (Time subject to change.  Please check back for confirmation ) The NYC Council will be voting on Mayor Bloomberg's sweeping smoking ban this date. Some council members can still be swayed NOT to vote for this bill (see latest news ) It's up to you to convince them once and for all that it's wrong, and not in their best political career interests, to support one man's personal war on smokers. Thousands of businesses and two million New Yorkers...