Anxiety in Smokers, Cigarettes Addiction

Preclinical data suggests inactivation of a specific sub-class of nicotinic receptors may be an effective strategy to help smokers quit without feeling anxious, according to Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. These findings could one day point researchers to the development of novel therapies to help smokers quit without feeling anxious. Smokers use cigarettes for many reasons, but many report that they smoke to relieve anxiety, despite the health danger of cigarette smoking. Researchers are now working to understand the underlying neurochemical pathways that support smoking behavior.

Illegal Trade Hitting Tobacco Market

Cigarettes giant Imperial Tobacco has reduced the value of its Spanish business by £1.2 billion writedown after austerity-hit smokers turn to black market fakes in a bid to reduce the cost of smoking. The legal tobacco market has shrunk by 10% in Spain over the last year, said Imperial “Economic conditions remain difficult in Spain; high unemployment and increasing government austerity measures are placing further pressures on consumers and the duty paid tobacco market, with illicit trade a growing problem,” the group continued.

Ukrainian Smokers Quit Smoking, Indoor Smoking Ban

More Ukrainians are giving up the highly damaging smoking habit as legislation toughens bans on advertising, smoking in public places and introduces disturbing graphic warnings on cigarette packs. As of Dec. 16, smoking indoors will be illegal as a new law signed by President Viktor Yanukovych in June comes into effect. It prohibits smoking in restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, governmental buildings, sport arenas and cultural premises. Hookah pipes and electronic cigarettes also fall under the ban.

Price Increase for Cigarettes

The cost of cigarettes will rise to more than $20 a pack over the next four years after Parliament passed the Government's Budget Day promise to the tax on tobacco. The legislation passed last night will raise tobacco excise by 10 per cent increase a year for the next four years. It is expected to lift the price of a typical pack of cigarettes from about $14.30 today to $20 or more by 2016. The Government allocated $20 million over the next four years in this year's Budget for a new innovation fund to develop ways to help more ways to help New Zealanders kick the habit.

Cigarettes Sale Trade Refused, Imperial Tobacco

Sinclair Collis, which is wholly owned by Imperial Tobacco, argued the Scottish Government's legislation to outlaw the machines went against European free trade rules. The law was introduced to bring down the number of smokers, particularly young people, with one in 10 underage smokers said to use the machines. Sinclair Collis operates 1708 cigarette vending machines at 1454 sites throughout Scotland. It argued that most of the machines and their spare parts come from Spain, and said it would no longer have a reason to import them.