Cigarette consumption has long been in decline in the US. But some states and demographics still seem to be clinging on to the habit - and keeping tobacco companies afloat.

Plain packaging makes cigarettes taste worse than branded cigarettes and makes all cigarettes taste the same, new research suggests.

E-Njoint BV is selling its high-tech spliffs at parties, music events, bars and clubs and across Europe.

The Cancer Society is appealing to Auckland suburbs with the city's highest rates of smoking for help to press for a smokefree bylaw and possibly fines.

Kiwi diners are being exposed to large amounts of secondhand smoke even when they choose to sit inside restaurants, a study shows.

A barber was "genuinely fearful" of remaining in the presence of an employer who regularly made fun of him and told him "I hate white people".

Women who smoke and are overweight are more likely to suffer a stillbirth than non-smoking women of a healthy weight, a report has found.

Why anyone would want to bring anything but fresh air into their lungs now that tobacco's damage has been well documented, is a mystery.

Public health researchers say the Government's next step after introducing plain packaging for tobacco should be to make cigarettes ugly.

New Zealand's wine and dairy producers will be forced to export their products without branding in retaliation for Government's introduction of plain packaging of cigarettes.

Is the tobacco plain packaging bill amendment worthwhile? Honestly, I'm on the fence, writes Lee Suckling.

A photo of a young boy with a cigarette in his mouth and a can of pre-mix spirits in his hand has been slammed by the Children's Commissioner.

The days of bulk-buying cigarettes at the border are over after the Govt revealed its latest anti-smoking policy would cut the duty-free allowance.

The death rate from cancer has fallen over the past 25 years, but lung cancer will overtake breast cancer as the biggest killer among women within the next few years, said leading experts.

Roll-your-own tobacco is ''more dangerous'' than factory-made cigarettes and should be banned, says Professor Richard Edwards.

Police have warned against a "free-for-all" after a shipping container with a cargo of several million cigarettes washed ashore in Devon.

Future generations will look back with horrified incredulity at how we allowed a cartel of international drug pushers to promote and sell poison legally.

The bully boys of American trade have issued a thinly veiled threat of repercussions to NZ's exports if the Govt persists with plain packaging, writes Brian Rudman.

Tariana Turia has kicked off the parliamentary debate on plain packaging of cigarettes with a warning to tobacco companies not to meddle in NZ affairs.

A hard-hitting law change to stamp out the tobacco industry's last avenue of marketing is likely to get wide support when it comes to Parliament.

A Wanganui dairy has gone smokefree - and business has never been better, says its owner.

A trial which offers smokers the chance to try nicotine replacement therapy whether they want to quit or not has started in Wellington.