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New Baseball Contract Limits Tobacco Use!
Nov 22, 2011 - Coalition to Knock Tobacco Out of the Park 
gets baseball to start snuffing out tobacco. Major League Baseball and the players' union have taken an historic first step toward getting tobacco out of the ballgame by placing significant limits on smokeless tobacco at the ballpark and whenever players are around fans.
Cigarette Label Warnings
Beginning September 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will require larger, more prominent cigarette health warnings on all cigarette packaging and advertisements in the United States. The goal of the graphic warnings is to discourage youth from starting to smoke and encourage smokers to get the help they need to quit. These warnings mark the first change in cigarette warnings in more than 25 years and are a significant advancement in communicating the dangers of smoking.
View the tobacco warning labels
Potential for smoking cessation without weight gain
June 9, 2011 - A new study uncovers a brain mechanism that could be targeted for new medications designed to help people quit smoking without gaining weight. Prior research shows that the average weight gain after smoking is less than 10 pounds, but fear of weight gain can discourage some people who would like to quit. In the study, to be published in Science, researchers found that a nicotine-like drug, cytisine, specifically activated receptors that resulted in the activation of a circuit that reduced food intake and body fat in a mouse model. NIH NEWS
E-cigarettes
E-cigarettes are plastic and metal devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution in a disposable cartridge, creating vapor that the "smoker" inhales. With electronic cigarettes flavors like bubblegum, buttered popcorn, fudge and cookie dough, and the fact that there is apparently no age restriction on their sale to minors in most states, the devices are becoming enormously popular among teens and even those younger. Little is known about what the estimated million or more people using them are sucking into their lungs.
May 2, 2011 - The Food and Drug Administration plans to regulate smokeless electronic cigarettes as tobacco products and won't try to regulate them under stricter rules for drug-delivery devices. The federal agency said in a letter to stakeholders that it intends to propose rule changes to treat e-cigarettes the same as traditional cigarettes and other tobacco products. The news is considered a victory for makers and distributors of the devices, which continue to gain popularity worldwide.