Smokers can get their fix by rubbing a portion of the gel, which contains one tenth of the tobacco in a cigarette, into their palms. The gel is produced by American-based Advanced Formulations, which boasts that it is highly addictive and, unlike nicotine patches or gum, will not help smokers kick the habit. The new law prohibits lighting up in all enclosed public spaces and workplaces, including pubs, restaurants, offices and even bus shelters, taxis, company cars and delivery vehicles....

If Republicans budge on raising the cigarette tax or the new tax on big oil companies, Democrats may have to give up on its hospital tax and universal health care. This is not a budget for the big oil companies or the big tobacco companies, Doyle said in a statement after the budget passed, praising the committee s work. Republicans who for months have said they will pass a balanced budget without any tax increases will soon get their chance to show their hand. But its plan could mean...

Middlebrooks to 25 years in prison for mailing threatening communications to his former girlfriend between 2000 and 2005, said R. Reflecting dramatic increases in local property values and the difficulty that has caused for residents to pay property taxes, the Palm Beach County tax collector, on June 1 completed the annual sale of tax certificates. The property owner then has a minimum of two years to redeem or pay the tax certificate without fear of the property being sold at a tax deed...

Complaining about the weather may be a pastime as old as farming itself, but this year, farmers have reason to be worried, meteorologists and agriculture experts say. Middle Tennessee's #1 Online News Source. A harsh April freeze and a dry spring have combined to create difficult conditions throughout Tennessee's $20 billion agriculture industry from the winter wheat and hay that farmers are just beginning to harvest to the soybeans and tobacco plants they are trying to get in the ground....

Boisdale has at least 5,000 repeat customers and 1,100 members, who enjoy benefits such as a 25 percent discount on cigars and free admission to live music nights. June 8 (Bloomberg) -- London's cigar aficionados, accustomed to smoking Cubans in plush leather chairs with a glass of port, are soon to be out in the cold. Second-hand cigar smoke may be more harmful than that from cigarettes because cigars release higher levels of toxins, according to the U. Other bars are fitting ashtrays to...

To create a permanent, dedicated source of money to put more troopers out on the roads, the three lawmakers proposed the nickel-a-bottle beer tax increase. But they said that is 39 troopers short of what's needed to restore around-the-clock coverage on the state's major highways, and far below trooper numbers of the early 1980s. At a news conference, the lawmakers said the Legislature's recent approval of a budget allowing the Oregon State Police to hire 100 more troopers to patrol roads...