Graphic images of the adverse health effects of smoking do deter young adult smokers and should be significantly increased in size, NZ research has found.

Health organisations are alarmed at how the internet is being used to promote smoking.

Demand for tobacco has fallen 15pc at supermarkets since the tax rise in April - a far greater reduction than expected.

British American Tobacco (BAT) has denied claims it uses video-sharing website YouTube to market its products, as research released today from Otago University claimed.

The health sector is overburdened by those who don't know how to look after themselves or don't give a damn, writes Gareth Morgan.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris has admitted that child workers have been subjected to long hours working on Kazakhstan tobacco farms it deals with.

A study shows a 30pc drop in the number of teens smoking - days after the Govt announced a $12m cut in funding for anti-tobacco initiatives.

The safety benefits from banning lighters in prisons would outweigh threats of violence over the planned smoking ban, a prison guard says.

A former smoker brought his diseased heart to Parliament for MPs to look at today, telling a select committee of his five heart attacks caused by smoking-related disease.