Tobacco.org

Nearly $10,000 in Synthetic Drugs Uncovered at Downtown Tobacco Store 

Comptroller praises Baltimore County for helping snuff out cigarette smuggling  

• Smoking ban slated for public housing  

Public housing officials say they will ban smoking within one of their buildings this year, with plans to eventually prohibit smoking in all of their residences.

Vincent Leggett, CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis, said the new smoking policy could begin as early as this summer at the Morris H. Blum high-rise, a senior housing community. Over the course of the next five years, the agency wants to expand the policy to all of its properties.

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AUDIO: Cigarette Related House Fires  

Howard County Fire Department Battalion Chief Chuck Ridgely talks with WBAL's Scott Wykoff about the fires caused by folks improperly disposing of cigarettes at their homes during this stretch of dry and windy days in the Baltimore-area

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Authorities Investigating 3 Fires Sparked By Cigarettes 

Smokers in public housing can make it rough on non-smokers  

EDITORIAL: Waking up to dangers of smokeless tobacco  

Like cigarettes, smokeless tobacco contains nicotine, which makes it addictive. While it may not be quite as lethal as cigarettes, it does raise the risk of cancer, heart disease and gum disease, among other ailments. According to the Mayo Clinic, "You can call chewing tobacco by whatever name you want -- smokeless tobacco, spit tobacco, chew, snuff, pinch or dip -- but don't call it harmless."

That message has started to catch on, though it's no match for the hundreds of millions of dollars that tobacco companies have poured into marketing their smokeless products. One key test is in Maryland, where lawmakers are considering a bill that would raise levies on various tobacco products -- including smokeless ones, cigarillos, small cigars and the like -- so they are on par with the $2-a-pack level at which cigarettes are taxed.

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Could increasing the cost of cheap cigars reduce teenage marijuana use? 

Cancer Fact or Fiction: Separating Myths from Good Information  

A dozen teens attack man over cigarettes 

Officials Call For Stronger Penalties For Maryland Cigarette Smugglers  

Maryland public safety and anti-smoking bills in limbo - Maryland Politics - The Washington Post 

Police increase seizures of untaxed cigarettes  

Bill raises stakes for cigarette smuggling 

• Cigarette smuggling a growing problem in Maryland  

The number of people caught smuggling untaxed cigarettes into Maryland is on the rise, and it's costing the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost tax revenue, authorities say.

"If they can buy them in Virginia or the Carolinas for $5 a pack, they can go up to New York and sell them for $15 a pack, so they triple their money," said Detective Sgt. Richard Klebon with the Berlin Barrack of the Maryland State Police.

Law enforcement efforts ultimately aim to keep the tax dollars in Maryland; the state levies a $2-per-pack tax. As far as the Comptroller of Maryland is concerned, cigarette smuggling is a big business with little risk.

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