Arizona is among the worst states for smuggling of illegal goods, along with California, Texas, Florida and eight others being targeted by a new nationwide initiative from Phillip Morris – United to Safeguard America From Illegal Trade. Read more»

Before COVID vaccines, most major private insurers waived patient payments for coronavirus treatment, but many if not most have allowed that policy to lapse for what is now a preventable hospitalization, so vaccine resisters should be prepared for insurance hikes. Read more»

Starting Wednesday, if you want to buy tobacco or e-cigarettes in New York and you’re under 21, you’re out of luck. The state joined 17 others and the District of Columbia in raising the legal age to buy cigarettes. Read more»

Pima County Supervisors voted 3-2 against imposing a ban on selling nicotine products to residents under 21 years old, while the Tucson City Council put off a decision on a similar new law. Read more»

This was the busiest week yet this session for Arizona lawmakers, with committee hearings taking hours and bills vetted by the dozens. The week on the capitol began graced with dozens of Arizona firefighters spotting the mall, and ended with a farmers market. Somewhere in between, a mini horse trotted across the Rose Garden to lobby for service animals. Read more»

When it comes to quitting smoking, women may need some extra motivation: "Women are more likely to gain weight than men when they quit smoking, and women have more difficulty losing weight when they gain it." That’s why UA researchers helped develop an app to remind women smokers that their health is more important than being thin. Read more»

For decades, tobacco companies relied on movie stars and sports heroes to pitch their brands, making cigarettes a symbol of sophistication and glamour. Today, the image is vastly different, with smoking largely a habit of the troubled and the poor: 44 percent of all smokers are mentally ill. Read more»

Smoking is on course to kill up to 1 billion worldwide this century, most in poor nations. Could this little South American country, in a legal fight with Philip Morris, help turn that around? Read more»

If you're a smoker, the University of Arizona may be about to put out your fire, or at least your cigarette. If a proposed policy takes effect Aug.15, the school will ban "the use of tobacco or nicotine-containing products" on all UA property. Read more» 1

It’s hard to think of anything more reckless than adding a deadly carcinogen to a product that already causes cancer—and then bragging about the health benefits. That’s what Lorillard Tobacco did 60 years ago when it introduced Kent cigarettes, whose patented “Micronite” filter contained a particularly virulent form of asbestos. Read more»

A cigarette tax higher than neighboring states and cheaper prices on American Indian reservations have helped fuel a growing black market for cigarettes in Arizona, according a study by a Washington, D.C., think tank. Read more»

Experts offered lawmakers some grim statistics Wednesday on cancer in Arizona, including a forecast of 11,400 deaths this year and a 50 percent increase in cancer cases by 2050. However, one figure offered some hope: More than half of cancer cases here could be prevented by lifestyle changes such as not smoking and exercising more. Read more»

With electronic cigarettes gaining popularity, officials in Arizona and nationwide are seeing more cases of people exposed to too much nicotine, not just from inhaling but by spilling or swallowing the liquid drug. Read more»

With electronic cigarettes increasingly popular among children nationally, officials and advocates hope a new Arizona law banning sales to those under 18 will pay dividends here. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said e-cigarette use among high school students rose from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 2.8 percent in 2012. Read more»

The Monday Political Face-Off with commentators Jeff Rogers and John Munger. Also, Stephen Michael of the Arizona Smokers Helpline. Plus, former state legislator Nancy Young Wright talked about animal welfare issues in Pima County. Read more»