In the most recent sting operation conducted by the county's Public Health Department, in a quarter of the 113 stores, underage teens sent in to buy cigarettes got them. But there's also apparently a severe training problem at these stores too if the clerks are (correctly) asking for ID, then selling the cigarettes anyway. Their license to sell cigarettes will be suspended for 21 or 30 days as a result thanks to the cigarette business license ordinances passed locally. While we appreciate...

Price supports stopped after a federal buyout of the quotas that had supported the tobacco farming industry for decades. The number of tobacco farmers in North Carolina has declined due to the elimination of federal price supports and a decline in smoking, but some counties have become even bigger producers of tobacco. Johnston County leads the state in production with 22. Agriculture experts say the change also means tobacco is grown in the areas where the sandy soil best supports it -...

Sunday, July 8, 2007 By KEVIN FREKING ~ The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The nation's 45 million smokers will probably help pay for the spending increase that Democrats want for children's health insurance, say analysts familiar with deliberations on Capitol Hill. Sunday, July 8, 2007 By KEVIN FREKING ~ The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The nation's 45 million smokers will probably help pay for the spending increase that Democrats want for children's health insurance, say analysts...

The Associated Press reports lawmakers have their eyes on raising the 39 cent federal tobacco tax as a way to pay for up to $50 billion in new children's health care spending. The Norman Transcript Smokers who have seen state tobacco taxes rise substantially in the past few years are bracing for another round of tax hikes -- this time from the federal government. The American Medical Association reports that for each 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes, youth smoking declines by...

By Peggy Lim, Staff Writer The United States has fewer smokers, a shrinking base of cigarette factories and no more federal price supports for tobacco. But as tobacco farming has receded in many parts of the country, a bevy of Eastern North Carolina counties have picked up the slack. By Peggy Lim, Staff Writer The United States has fewer smokers, a shrinking base of cigarette factories and no more federal price supports for tobacco. But as tobacco farming has receded in many parts of the...

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Supreme Court of Canada will rule next Thursday on the constitutionality of federal restrictions on tobacco advertising and on requirements that prominent and graphic health warnings be put on cigarette packages. The government rules that the tobacco industry has challenged were imposed after the Supreme Court in 1995 struck down a total ban on tobacco ads on the grounds that it violated free speech. The 1995 decision did allow partial bans, for example a prohibition...