E-cigarettes are more effective than nicotine patches at helping people to cut down on smoking, a study has found.

World-first research shows trendy new electronic cigarettes are more effective than nicotine patches in helping smokers quit - so, to the consternation of health workers, tobacco companies are buying up e-cig brands.

Not wishing to sound pompous, but I've never found it especially hard to give up smoking. I've given up quite successfully a number of times.

Parents of newborn babies are being told to wear smoking jackets and not touch their child for up to half an hour after having a cigarette - to protect the babies from smoke residue.

Yesterday, I had my last cigarette after 28 years. Giving up smoking publicly, and with my employer, is a double-edged sword.

Electronic cigarettes contain carcinogenic chemicals that make some as harmful as normal tobacco, a new French study has claimed.

I am trying to quit the demon weed by joining the Herald team entering the nationwide Wero Challenge.

Listeners on Sean Plunket's nationwide talkback show can't have missed the growl in his voice for the past couple of weeks.

A female security guard grabs my arm and hisses, "No smoking! You can't smoke!"

Smoking is likely to be banned in family cars as the Government minister leading the charge to a smokefree society steers towards the first incursion into private space by authorities.

The Herald on Sunday today launches a campaign to persuade New Zealanders to escape the shackles of the tobacco peddlers.

As smoking numbers drop and new statistics reveal it is no longer New Zealand’s worst killer, health workers are convinced we can eradicate smoking within just 12 years – much like we eradicated the southern saltmarsh mosquito, smallpox and polio.

Forget their health, aim at their vanity - research suggests smokers who are told they stink are more likely to quit the habit.

Approval for a VIP smoking area at Auckland's SkyCity casino has prompted a High Court challenge over testing methods.

Duty-free cigarettes are in the firing line: good news for the Government's tax revenue but bad news for the dwindling numbers of smokers.

A nicotine inhaler which could offer new hope for smokers trying to give up the habit is already showing promising results, researchers say.

One of the world's largest tobacco companies has agreed to stop giving its employees free cigarettes following an investigation by the Ministry of Health.

The Cancer Society says Auckland City Council should introduce its ban on smoking in public three years earlier than planned - making the city smoke-free by 2015.

A Hamilton radio personality - sick of his fiance being leered at and heckled - wants action to address antisocial behaviour in the central city's plaza.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has called a successful court challenge against smoking bans in prisons a "waste of time" because the Government has already changed the law to justify the bans.

An urgent rule change by the Corrections Department which banned smoking in prisons has been ruled unlawful by a High Court judge.

A Westport man has told a jury the 8.5kg of cannabis police found in his home and vehicle was all for his own use.

Smoking is not only bad for human health, it can harm that of pets, too.

SkyCity is targeting smokers with an expanded casino area designed for customers who want to have a cigarette while gambling.

Children are more likely than their parents to give an accurate report of how much second-hand smoke they are exposed to at home and in the car, a new study has found.

The increase in tobacco tax in January may have pushed the smoking rate below 16 per cent, a survey suggests.