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Cigarette maker Gallaher and retailers including Asda and Somerfield have been fined over £173m following a price-fixing investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.

A large proportion - £93m - will be paid by Gallaher, whose brands include Benson & Hedge and Silk Cut.

The fines follow a five-year investigation into price setting and the passing of sensitive information in the UK tobacco industry between 2000 and 2003.

The OFT said the size of the fines would be reduced to £132.3m if the companies, which had applied to the watchdog for leniency, continued to support the investigation.

The size of Gallaher’s fine, disclosed by its owner, Japan Tobacco, is based on the company benefiting from the leniency reduction.

The other retailers fined were First Quench, One Stop Stores and TM Retail. Sainsbury’s, the first company to apply for leniency, has escaped without a fine.

The OFT - which expects to close its case early next year - said the investigation into Co-Op, Imperial Tobacco, Morrisons, Safeway, Shell and Tesco was continuing.

Asda said: "Everyone at Asda is very sorry about what happened… though we can’t turn back the clock there are lessons to be learned and we will learn them."

It wasn’t very long ago at all - just a few short years, in fact when it was perfectly legal to light up a cigarette in just about any restaurant in Massachusetts. Not perfectly sensible, of course, but legal. While that might seem not a little odd when looked at from today’s smoke-free environment, rewinding the tape just a bit more reveals pictures that can only be called astonishing:

People smoking in their offices. People smoking on busses and even on airplanes. People smoking in elevators. People smoking everywhere and at every turn.

Back to the present.

Massachusetts just increased the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1, to $2.51. The reasons for this are twofold:

First, the state is looking to raise money to help cover the costs of its universal health insurance program. And second, the state wants to encourage more smokers to quit and to dissuade young non-smokers from ever starting.

Both of these are sensible.

In general, we are not wild about tax increases. And we have had increasing concerns about the costs associated with the state’s health insurance program. That said, it makes sense to tap smokers for funds for health insurance. After all, there isn’t a legal activity that’s more unhealthy. As they bring ruin to themselves, they’ll be helping out the health care plan with each pack of cigarettes they buy.

And, one can only hope, they’ll tire of spending so much for so little and they’ll quit.

The state House and Senate hurriedly passed the tax hike on Monday, and Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed the increase into law on Tuesday. It took effect immediately.

What a difference a few decades makes. We remember well when it seemed that everyone was smoking. And when cigarettes cost much less than a dollar. Now there are fewer smokers all the time and the tax alone is $2.51.

Chennai: A company in Chennai has introduced the concept of ‘e-smoking’ with electronic cigarettes based on the principal of ‘nicotine replacement therapy’.

The concept has been introduced for the first time in India.

The electronic white stick hit the Chennai market on May 31 that is observed as the ‘World No Tobacco Day’.

The e-cigarette looks like a normal cigarette and the white part of the cigarette is the battery. The filter part is the cartridge, which can be replaced. Diluted nicotine is kept in the gadget.

The good news is that puffing these cigarettes does not compromise on the stimulation aspect of smoking, as it lends the same stimulation sans carcinogenic elements.

They just won’t stop nagging. No matter how many excuses you come up with, some individuals will still go on and on about how smoking is dangerous for your health. But people know the risks that come with cigarettes. Some choose to ignore them while some try to create a healthy lifestyle for themselves by cutting back or quitting altogether. One new invention has created the opportunity to making those cutbacks easier.

The SuperSmoker is an electronic cigarette that contains no tobacco whatsoever. It doesn’t need to be lit, there’s no combustion, no tar or real smoke. As an alternative cigarette, the SuperSmoker uses a vaporization chamber and a disposable cartridge that contains a small amount of nicotine. To operate it, all a person has to do is simply inhale as there is no on or off switch.

Since it is an electronic device, it runs on batteries and cartridges. Available in various concentrations of nicotine, each cartridge is equal to 15-20 cigarettes. The product also comes with a battery charger as it has to be charged after one day of regular use.

The electronic cigarette is a great alternative because it’s free of certain health hazards. When you exhale, condensation is released instead of smoke. The cigarette also prevents nicotine poisoning as it has a security system that stops automatically for 30 seconds after 15 inhalations.

Legally used in public areas in the UK, the SuperSmoker is a great alternative to ordinary cigarettes. The device contains no tobacco, helps make sure that you’re not overusing and causes no hazards to the people around you.

TOKYO, — Domestic cigarette sales fell by 4.3% to 258.5 billion cigarettes in the year ended March 31, marking a ninth straight year of decline, the Tobacco Institute of Japan said Thursday.
The decrease is attributed to the growing trend to quit smoking, as well as tighter smoking-related regulations. Last fiscal year’s sales figure is down 26% from the fiscal 1996 peak.
In fiscal 2007, sales of domestically produced cigarettes slid 4.1% to 167.8 billion, while imports sank 4.6% to 90.7 billion.
Japan Tobacco Inc. (TSE:2914) saw its market share edge up 0.1 percentage point to 64.9%, its first such gain since the company’s 1985 privatization.
As for the outlook, JT expects the market to "keep declining about 4-5% every year," according to Executive Vice President Mitsuomi Koizumi.
Asked about the impact, if any, of the age-verifying cigarette vending machines that have debuted in two Kyushu prefectures, Koizumi says: "More people are buying cigarettes at convenience stores for now, but there has been no impact on overall sales."