Reaching this target -- by boosting taxes, banning tobacco advertising, expanding smoke-free zones, and helping people quit -- could also spare another 50 million people born over the next two decades, they wrote. Bloomberg, an ex-smoker who used 125 million dollars of his own money to launch a Worldwide Stop Smoking Initiative last August, cited studies calculating that one billion people will go to their graves early due to tobacco before the end of the century. Taxation, Bloomberg...

Johnny Brown, an employee at the farm, said the bitter cold spell that hit several weeks ago has hurt the crop and probably will lessen the yield harvested this fall. Across Horry and Georgetown counties, the recent wind storm and below-freezing temperatures April 8 and 9 have killed tobacco plants and stunted corn and small grains. Tobacco that was planted before the freeze was wiped out, said Carlin Munnerlyn, county agent for the extension service. The result will be higher prices or...

The initiative will prohibit the use of all tobacco products on any Baptist or OCH property, including parking areas and previously designated external smoking sites. Lassiter said the tobacco ban is a progression over the last 20 years of having smoke-free workplaces. Lassiter added that tobacco is the cause of death for 4,700 Mississippians every year and is the root cause of many illnesses and lost productivity. Both administrators noted the decision to go tobacco-free is not an attempt...

Farming Conditions Worsen Across Georgia, Commissioner Says posted May 1, 2007 Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin said he is concerned about the effect of the drought on all of the state s crops, especially those already damaged and/or held up by the recent freeze. Farming Conditions Worsen Across Georgia, Commissioner Says posted May 1, 2007 Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin said he is concerned about the effect of the drought on all of the state s crops,...

Opponents said the dismal record of Robert Mugabe's regime in running its agricultural economy meant it was not fit to take charge of global policy on rural development and sustainable agriculture. The owners of the once-productive, white-owned farm he took over after it was seized by war veterans in 2002 say much of the land is now more like a desert. But Chris Shepherd, 42, who still holds the farm's title deeds, said that when he flew low over Nyamanda a few weeks ago, he was shocked by...

Calls to 1-800-QuitNow are funded in part with tobacco tax funds and from court settlement proceeds from lawsuits against the tobacco industry. Proponents of the Oklahoma quitline and quit lines in general say the programs have a proven effectiveness whose benefits far outweigh its costs. Now after smoking for 25 years, Strickland knew this February that it was time to get serious about quitting when a granddaughter, concerned about her smoking, asked her, "Grandma, do you want to die?" So...