Analyst Predicts Cigarette Price Hike

Multiple signs suggest a cigarette price increase is on tap for the first half of December, according to a tobacco analyst.
"Our ... survey results indicate PM USA will likely lead a list-price increase of 6 to 7 cents/pack in mid-December," she wrote on Nov. 14. "This is expected to drive industry revenue and profit pool growth even if a portion of the list price increase is 'promoted away.' "

Cigarette Tax Hike for Kentucky?

Smokers would pay more for their cigarettes under a proposal endorsed recently by a panel appointed by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear. The Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform on Nov. 19 gave an initial OK to increasing the cigarette tax to $1 a pack from the current 60 cents, according to a CBSNews report. The news wasn't welcomed at Bo's Smoke Shop in Lawrenceburg, where the price for a pack of the most popular Marlboro cigarettes would increase to $5 a pack. "I don't think the customers are going to like it," cashier Terri Taylor told CBS. "They're already complaining about how high cigarettes are."

FDA unfairly maligns tobacco plant with graphic new cigarette warning labels

The FDA has released nine new graphic warning labels that will be required on U.S. cigarettes, offering grotesque visual images designed to dissuade smokers from purchasing cigarettes. At first glance, this might seem like a clever and effective strategy for reducing deaths from smoking cigarettes. After all, there's a lot of scientific evidence that says smoking cigarettes is bad for you. But there's something missing in this whole debate that neither the FDA nor health authorities dare talk about: there is a huge difference between smoking chemically-laced "processed" cigarettes versus natural tobacco leaves.
In the minds of most people, "cigarettes" and "tobacco" are synonymous. If cigarettes are bad for you, then so is tobacco, they believe. In fact, we've all been trained to use the terms interchangeably. If someone is "addicted to cigarettes," we also say, without even thinking about it, that they are "addicted to tobacco." But as you'll learn here, tobacco is a plant while cigarettes are a highly processed product laced with a recipe of deadly synthetic chemicals.

GMO tobacco may already be on the market

According to GMO Compass, field trials of GM tobacco have been going on for quite some time, and have typically been used for research purposes rather than for product development. However, GM tobacco that has been genetically-engineered to resist herbicides has already been developed, and is currently being used in some brands of cigarettes (http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/plants/304.tobacco.html). So by the looks of it, these Argentinian farmers were strong-armed by Monsanto and Philip Morris , producer of Parliament cigarettes and Chesterfield cigarettes, to switch from their native, non-GM tobacco to some type of GM tobacco that requires the use of Roundup. This would appear to be the case, as Philip Morris hired researchers several years ago to develop GM tobacco for use in its cigarettes.

Quit Smoking Cold Turkey

'Cold turkey', refers to a process taken up by a person to help him shun a habit at once. In this process, there is no room for gradually leaving the habit through reduction or by using any kind of alternative. The prospect of this process is not easy as it may seem. How many people do we come across who have tried shunning the habit of smoking and succeeded. Certainly, not many? Records reveal that only 9 out of 90 people succeed in their first try. If you happen to be a smoker, particularly a chain smoker, then you many not deny the fact that the task of keeping yourself away from those puffs is a daunting one. You just can't help looking at those slim beauties, and ignore the thought of kissing them and playing around with the smoke. But at the same time, you cannot ignore the plethora of diseases which you might have to go through if you continue to be in love with cigarettes. Going the cold turkey way to quit smoking, although may be difficult, is an inexpensive method which may help you get over smoking for good.

Stop Smoking Tips

Although smoking is considered one of the most prominent evil in the society today, statistics don't really make you feel that many people are aware of its hazards. Even today 87 percent of lung cancer deaths are caused due to tobacco addiction. Passive smoking, with approximately 3000 deaths every year, is no lesser culprit in itself. According to the statistics compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO), around 15 billion cigarettes are sold the world over daily, which means approximately 10 million cigarettes being sold every minute. Approximately 5 million people lose their life owing to some smoking related diseases annually, which means one person dies in every eight seconds. These facts are actually enough for a person to decide to quit, but quitting it is not as easy as it appears.