Tobacco

From Florida’s failing tobacco policies to giant rodents munching lettuce, we cover the state’s public health challenges, community cleanups, street safety, and a cafe that's more about animal education than lattes.

The annual State of Tobacco Control rates states in five categories. Florida received F's in prevention and cessation funding, tobacco taxes, and flavored tobacco products, and C's in the other two.

There was a 20% drop in the estimated number of middle and high school students who recently used at least one tobacco product, including cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, nicotine pouches and hookahs.

Health advocates fear Zyn, like e-cigs, may catch on with teens due to its addictive nicotine. Meanwhile, videos of youths popping the pouches have racked up millions of views on social media.

The agency says the menthol gets people hooked easier and makes it harder for them to break the addiction.

Florida has three failing grades in the annual State of Tobacco report. About 13% of all Floridians smoke tobacco products.

Casinos in several states are fighting efforts to ban smoking, and trying to roll back existing anti-smoking laws. One planned facility even moved outside a city’s limits because of voter-approved smoking restrictions.

Florida is failing when it comes to controlling tobacco and preventing smoking, according to a new report from the American Lung Association.

A report by state economists pointed to a forecast last month that cigarette sales would decline by 2.5 percent annually over the next decade.

The court denied the settlement because the couple was not married when the victim was first diagnosed in the 1990s — a time when Florida did not allow same sex marriages.

Walmart is not the first national retail chain to cut off cigarette sales even on a trial basis, but it is the largest.

Siding with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the court said plaintiffs must show that smokers relied on misleading information from cigarette makers to prevail on the claims.