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.

Forcing up tobacco taxes every year is having an effect. It's hitting the price point for many smokers, galvanising their resolve to quit.

Beeby Harding and her whanau are trying to raise $5000 for their marae by quitting smoking.

Plain tobacco packaging doesn't slow down transaction times for retailers, according to a study supported by anti-smoking groups.

A former mental health patient, who was denied the right to smoke, believes allowing addicted patients to smoke has far more positives than negatives.

High court action will be launched tomorrow against a smoking ban in an acute mental health facility.

Beaches, civic plazas and on-street cafes will be made voluntarily smokefree across the Auckland region, under a draft council plan.

The Health Ministry said it was working on the idea of forcing tobacco retailers to be listed on a state register of tobacco outlets.

A legal high lobbyist says synthetic cannabis is a low-risk psychoactive substance that had not caused any death and was statistically safer than alcohol.

New Zealand communities are battling to rid themselves of synthetic cannabis - with the Government's promised solution months away.

A Dunedin father says he was tossed around his house "like paper" by his son trying to go cold turkey from the synthetic cannabis product, K2.

A 3-month-old baby was the youngest of 17 children found by police living in unsafe drug houses during the annual cannabis blitz.

A hardline opponent of electronic cigarettes fears that rather than helping people to quit ordinary cigarettes, they may keep them hooked on a daily dose of tobacco smoke.

A new smartphone app that shows smokers how much cigarettes will destroy their looks has been developed to encourage people to quit while they're young.

Using the new smartphone app from the National Health Service (NHS), we were able to see how these NZ celebrities might appear after 20 years of smoking.

Welfare benefits will go up by just 0.61 per cent from April 1 because the Government has decided not to give beneficiaries any compensation for higher cigarette prices.

New Zealand's largest hospitals are asking job applicants to disclose whether they smoke.

It’s been more than seven months since Greg Dixon walked away from his favourite habit: smoking lovely, lovely cigarettes. Does he feel better? Maybe. Has he become a rabid anti-smoking fascist? Definitely not

Actor Jim Carrey has given up alcohol and cigarettes, and embraced a strict new diet as part of a life-changing health kick.

"What is the powerful hold international tobacco peddlers seem to have over governments around the world?" asks Brian Rudman.

Forcing cigarettes up to $40 for a pack of 20 would achieve New Zealand's smokefree goal virtually overnight, important new research indicates.

Simon Chapman says Big Tobacco is losing ground on plain packs but is homing in on less fortunate countries.