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The US Food and Drug Administration took a “momentous” step Monday toward banning menthol in cigarettes and banning flavored cigars, proposing a rule that public health experts say could save hundreds of thousands of lives. (Christensen, 10/16)

The tobacco industry has already made clear its distaste for the ban, and its plans to sue if the ban is ever formalized. When the proposal was first released in draft form, Altria, the parent company of Marlboro cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, wrote that the policy would “create unregulated, illegal markets, encourage criminal activity, and threaten the integrity of the regulatory system,” “eliminate billions of dollars in tax revenues,” and “lead to the loss of thousands of jobs.” The proposal “​​would fail legal scrutiny if finalized,” the company added. (Florko, 10/16)

Big Tobacco firms including British American Tobacco are selling heat sticks made from nicotine-infused substances such as rooibos tea, countering an incoming European Union ban on flavoured heated tobacco products. While the sticks mark a new way to inhale the addictive drug, health experts warn that their safety is unclear. The industry has produced "heat-not-burn" sticks containing tobacco for years, aiming to avoid the toxic chemicals released via combustion. (Rumney, 10/16)

Jurors early this month cleared Philip Morris and Allsup’s Convenience Stores, Inc. of liability for the oral cancer that killed a New Mexico man who smoked for decades. Waters/Youngers v. Philip Morris, et al. The New Mexico First Judicial Circuit State Court jury rejected design defect, negligent marketing, and conspiracy claims over the 2021 death of Edward “Eddie” Waters due complications related to mouth cancer. Waters was a pack-a-day smoker by the time he was 13 and continued to smoke for decades, favoring Philip Morris’ Marlboros during that time. (Crisco, 10/16)

A New York state lawmaker wants to make it illegal to smoke marijuana near children. Assemblyman Phil Steck, D-Schenectady, has introduced A.8025 to prohibit the use of cannabis within 30 feet of a child or 30 feet of any location in which children reside or attend for any recreational or educational purpose. Steck’s bill also includes additional penalties for those who are ticketed more than once. (Whittaker, 10/14)

The percentage of adults who smoke in Oklahoma is declining, but the state is still above the national average. The number of adults who smoke in Oklahoma fell from 26.1% in 2011 to 15.6% last year. But Oklahoma is still considered part of the "Tobacco Nation,” which refers to states whose smoking prevalence exceeds 14%. (Taylor, 10/12)

The stresses of renting a home can age people faster than if they are obese, smoked or were unemployed, a new study indicates. Struggling to pay rent, dealing with the hassles of moving and even the mere stigma of renting can cause tenants to age two and a half weeks faster for every year renting, according to The British Medical Journal’s Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. (Bardolf, 10/14)