State bill would ban smoking at tobacco shops

State Senator Mark DeSaulnier wants California to enact even tougher smoking laws. In 1994 California became the first state to ban smoking in most indoor places but DeSaulnier says 25 other states have since adopted stronger laws to protect people from second-hand smoke. He's proposing a bill which would expand the statewide smoking ban to include employee break rooms, private residences that house day care, warehouses and tobacco shops.

The Sanctuary Tobacco shop has been in San Luis Obispo since 1973. As the city has enacted groundbreaking legislation over the years to ban smoking in public places, The Sanctuary has always gotten an exemption and patrons have been able to smoke at the shop. The proposed state law may put the smoke out.

Tobacco cos. fire back on gov't-proposed ads

America's largest cigarette manufacturers have said the Justice Department's proposed corrective statements about smoking's dangers are inflammatory and inaccurate and violate guidelines set by the court overseeing the lawsuit.

The tobacco companies, including Philip Morris USA, maker of top-selling Marlboro cigarettes, also asked a US district judge to toss out the 12-year-old lawsuit, saying the Food and Drug Administration's authority over the industry makes the court's involvement unnecessary.

Last week, the Justice Department released 14 "corrective statements" that it says the companies should be required to make as part of the lawsuit. It wants the companies to admit that they lied to the public and would force the industry to pay for an advertising campaign of self-criticism.