Texas House approves chewing tobacco tax cut

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas House members have approved a bill to lower a tax on loose-leaf chewing tobacco like Red Man and others brands despite the health risks.

The bill passed 83 to 53 Wednesday.

Republican Rep. Allan Ritter of Nederland says his bill is a "good thing" for "all of us that chew tobacco."

Ritter says the measure corrects a weight-based tax the Legislature levied in 2009 that penalized heavier loose-leaf tobacco.

Cigarette smugglers 'using Ireland'

Ireland remains one of the "preferred destinations" in the EU for cigarette smuggling because of its comparatively high taxes on tobacco, a new report into criminal activity in the union has found.

Europol, the agency that handles criminal intelligence within the union, published its EU Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2011 today.

It covers a wide range of criminal activity, including the drugs trade, illegal immigration, human trafficking, fraud, counterfeiting, property and environmental crime and weapons trafficking.

Cuban eyes world record with 268-foot cigar

HAVANA — The 67-year-old Cuban cigar roller Jose Castelar, on Tuesday set a new Guinnes Record when completing a massive cigar measuring 81.80 meters long and 4 centimeters in diameter.

The huge cigar is being exposed at the International Tourism Fair “FIT Cuba 2011″ which runs from May 3 to 7 and Castelar said his next project will be to roll a cigar measuring 100 meters.

“The next one will be 100 meters long. Cuba is the country where the best tobacco is grown, and as long as Cueto lives the longest cigar will be here too,” he said, referring to his own popular name as “el Cueto” which means someone whose achievement can not be surpassed.

Ban on Cigarettes in India

Films have always had an effect on human behaviour. Movie stars created fashion statements, which the masses followed with excitement and joy. Actors and actresses often made heroes and heroines out of ordinary men and women.

On the flip side, cinema had its negative impact on society. Crime and other forms of unacceptable behaviour were picked up from the screen. Habits too. Humphrey Bogart's cigarettes created rings of magic that eventually not only felled him to cancer, but also caused pain and suffering to hundreds of thousands of his fans, who loved to ape the American actor. Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct" is said to have provoked a revolution among women, many of whom took to smoking cigarettes.

Hundreds of teenagers have got into the habit of smoking after watching their favourite cinema icons puff away. These have been studied and documented. A recent study in the U.S. revealed that films had a powerful effect on our behaviour. Artists by smoking on the screen often became an effective link between big tobacco companies and the young with impressionable minds.