Smoking

People who are trying to quit smoking may find help from online support groups, a new study suggests. These groups can provide a strong sense of community, without requiring people to attend on-site meetings.

As makers of electronic cigarettes invest in multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns, a backlash against the devices is brewing, according to The Kansas City Star. Last week, 40 attorneys general sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration asking the agency to regulate e-cigarettes like tobacco products.

A survey of underage smokers and drinkers in Canada finds many of them obtain their cigarettes and alcohol from family and friends.

Legacy's Julia Cartwright pays tribute to Terrie Hall, an important voice in the fight to save lives from tobacco use.

A new study finds three risk factors for smoking among young adults are being impulsive, using alcohol regularly and receiving low grades in school.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health will award up to $53 million this fiscal year to create a tobacco research program. Funding over five years could reach $273 million, Reuters reports.

Ambulance calls from casinos dropped significantly in Colorado after the state extended its smoke-free law to casino floors, a new study concludes.

Cigarette smoking may be particularly dangerous for obese people, a new animal study suggests. Researchers found cigarette smoke may affect metabolism, and could increase the risk of cancer in obese people more than in their thinner counterparts.

Smokers in some states will pay more than non-smokers for insurance premiums if they obtain their coverage through new state health exchanges being established as part of the Affordable Care Act. In some cases, smokers’ premiums will be as much as 50 percent higher.

The number of college campuses with 100 percent smoke-free policies has doubled since 2011, to 1,182, USA Today reports.

A government anti-tobacco ad campaign featuring graphic images helped 100,000 people quit smoking, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this week.

E-cigarettes are about as effective as nicotine patches in helping smokers quit, a new study suggests. People who use e-cigarettes smoke fewer cigarettes, even if they don’t completely stop smoking, according to NBC News.

Use of e-cigarettes among middle and high schools students doubled from 2011 to 2012, according to a new government survey. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 10 percent of high school students had tried an e-cigarette last year, compared with 5 percent the previous year.

Watching the Country Music Awards Music Festival broadcast this week from Nashville reminded me that no matter how far we’ve come in changing social norms around tobacco – it remains a marathon, not a sprint, explains Julia Cartwright of Legacy.

Smoking cessation programs can be successful in patients hospitalized for mental illness, a new study concludes. Researchers at Stanford University found psychiatric patients in a quit-smoking program were more likely to stop using cigarettes, and were less likely to be re-hospitalized for mental illness, compared with patients not in the program.

Higher cigarette taxes are associated with reduced drinking in men and young adult smokers, a new study suggests.

Children today are exposed to significantly less secondhand smoke than they were a decade ago—unless they have asthma, according to a new government report.

Many teens who use smokeless tobacco also smoke cigarettes, according to a national survey of almost 19,000 middle school and high school students.

Many outdoor venues, including parks, beaches and college campuses, are banning smoking, according to ABC News. The number of outdoor smoking bans has almost doubled in the last five years.

Teens whose parents have ever smoked are more likely to become smokers, even if their parents quit before they were born, according to a new study. Teens with an older sibling who smokes are also more likely to start using cigarettes.

Quitting smoking after undergoing a balloon angioplasty procedure to improve blood flow to the heart could add an average of two years to a person’s life, a new study concludes.

A new Gallup poll finds 22 percent of Americans support a complete ban on smoking, The Huffington Post reports. Only 9 percent of smokers support a complete ban.

Young adults who grew up in poverty are more likely to smoke than their peers who grew up in more economically secure homes, but they are less likely to binge drink, a new study suggests.

A government health panel on Monday recommended heavy smokers ages 55 to 80 receive annual screenings for lung cancer with low-dose CT scans, The New York Times reports.

Pediatricians can help parents quit smoking, a new study suggests.