Libs support Labor internet tobacco ad ban

Labor MPs have urged the coalition to stop accepting political donations from tobacco companies as the lower house debates a ban on cigarette advertising on the internet.

The coalition is supporting a government amendment to tobacco advertising laws to restrict ads on the internet in line with other media.

The move will mean it will be an offence to advertise tobacco products on the internet.

Liberal MP Andrew Southcott said the coalition shared a common desire with Labor to achieve a healthier society.

The current laws lacked clarity, Dr Southcott told parliament.

BAT stubs out crisis fears as buyback plan resumes

Lucky Strike maker British American Tobacco has resumed a share buyback programme worth £750million after full-year profits were boosted by price hikes and the weak pound.

The world’s second biggest cigarette firm restarted the scheme, which was suspended in 2008 in the wake of the financial crisis, after seeing free cash flow increase by 23 per cent to £3.2billion. But investors were disappointed by the scale of the buyback, sending the shares down 56.18p to 2356.82p.

'Charlie's addiction is like a form of cancer,' says his father Martin Sheen

Actor Martin Sheen has compared his son Charlie's battle with addiction to cancer.

The West Wing star has been in the UK to promote his new film The Way, which is set for release on April 15.

His son Charlie, star of Two and a Half Men, is currently undergoing rehab treatment at his home in LA and his actor father spoke out about his son's problems.

Speaking to Sky News, Martin, 70, said: 'He's an extraordinary man, He's doing well.

'We pray for him. If he had cancer how would you treat him? This disease of addiction is a form of cancer.

'You have to have an equal measure of concern and love.'

He remains philosophical about his son's ongoing struggles.

'You realise we're not all on the same journey all the time,' he said.

'We have to love that much more. We have to be that much more present.'

Local tobacco stakeholders eye export market

Local farmers of leaf tobacco, or what is commonly called 'grabba' could be looking at tapping into the lucrative market for their products overseas.

Leaf tobacco is among the top ten cash crops in major consumption centres such as the United States and China behind crops such as corn, wheat, hay, soybeans, cotton and rice. As far back as 1995, the tobacco crop produced across 15 United States valued at almost US$2.3 billion, representing approximately 2.7 per cent of the total for all cash crops and farm commodities.

Kentucky's agriculture and immigrants

The Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association has closely monitored current legislative efforts to affect Kentucky immigrant residents and citizens. Much has been written blaming the federal government for its inaction that led to this emotional crossroads.

The Co-op represents all burley growers in five states — primarily Kentucky. We are a marketing co-op but also serve as the primary policy representative for burley growers in Frankfort and Washington.

Wash. bill would OK sites for cigar, pipe smoking

More than five years after Washington voters banned smoking in most public places, state lawmakers on Thursday took up a bill that would make an exception for a limited number of tobacco retailers.

The Senate Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee heard public testimony on a measure that would permit up to 100 cigar lounges and 500 retail tobacco shops to apply for state license endorsements to allow cigar and pipe smoking on their premises.

Cigarette smoking still would be banned.

Applicants would have to pay a $15,000 fee to obtain a cigar lounge endorsement and $5,000 to obtain a tobacco store endorsement.

Senators call for baseball chewing tobacco ban

Two U.S. senators have urged the heads of Major League Baseball and the players union to ban the use of smokeless tobacco products on the field and in the dugout and the locker room.

A similar ban on chewing tobacco has been in place in baseball's minor leagues for decades. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, both Democrats, said it was time for the major leagues to follow suit.

"We now know conclusively that smokeless tobacco endangers the health of baseball players who use it, but it also affects millions of young people who watch baseball," Durbin and Lautenberg wrote in a letter to baseball commissioner Bud Selig, which was made available to news organizations on Tuesday.

In the letter, they cited a survey that found use of smokeless tobacco products by high school boys has increased by 36 percent since 2003.

Smoking ban challenger fails

A pro-smoking campaigner has failed in a new legal challenge against Northern Ireland's ban on lighting up in public.

Senior judges threw out a bid by north Down man Chris Carter to quash his conviction for smoking at the front of Bangor Town Hall.

Mr Carter claimed his rights to privacy and freedom from torture and discrimination were breached by the prohibition.

He alleged that the ban was comparable to restrictions imposed by the Third Reich in Hitler's Germany.

But his case was dismissed because he was not held to have the status of a victim and as no breach of his human rights was established.

New hope for cig vending machines

Fresh hope has been raised that the cigarette vending machine ban could be stopped by legal action.

Machine provider Sinclair Collis, part of Imperial Tobacco, has been granted leave to appeal the High Court's decision to reject its judicial review of the ban.

A hearing at the Court of Appeal is scheduled for 7 or 8 March and due to last one and a half days.

Imperial Tobacco senior UK corporate and legal affairs manager Colin Wragg said: “We are delighted that we have managed to get the appeal heard promptly and we will communicate further developments as they occur.”