People with depression can quit smoking with the right support, says new research examining a Quitline Victoria program, the first program in Australia to focus on smokers with a history of depression, writes Rebecca Gordon.
Smoking
healthcare 
The problem with being an ‘every so often’ smoker
Being an ‘every so often’ smoker doesn’t make you immune to cancer, heart disease and all of the other nasty health problems that result from inhaling cigarette smoke, writes John Fitzgerald.
Smokers already being ripped off — plain packaging is just insulting
Australia’s four million-odd smokers had already been paying an extra $5.5 billion a year in tax to smoke, or about $1250 each. Plain packaging is just insulting, says economist and researcher Adam Creighton.
Daily Proposition: Kick the fags, by going under
Life-time smoker Michael Vaughan was struggling with any more than four stairs. It was time to kick the fags. After a visit with Angelo, the hypnotist, he’s travelling beautifully.
mental health Smoking and the homeless: who cares?
Katie Weiss set out to explore how homeless smokers were feeling the pinch after tobacco prices soared under the Rudd Government earlier this year. She discovered few options are available to tackle addiction among the destitute.
Plain packs: tobacco industry bares its butts to bluff Rudd
There is one easy, preventative health plan that Rudd could implement: forcing plain packaging of cigarettes. Plain packaging “can kill your business” says the tobacco industry. Precisely.
Blowing off the tobacco industry
“To smoke is to be a slave to tobacco” may not sound like a troublesome anti-smoking slogan. But juxtapose that with a young person hinting at a submissive sexual act, and you can understand the controversy surrounding the new French campaign.
exposed Big Tobacco’s big cover-up
The US tobacco industry has been secretly meeting with the Solicitor General in a desperate attempt to stay out of the Supreme Court over the landmark 10-year-old racketeering lawsuit that found the industry deliberately concealed the dangers of smoking, AP reveals.
Your chance to win a terrible deathly disease…
Back in a Bit blogger Scott Bridges turned over his menu in Mysore, India to discover a helpful little public health message about the golden opportunities available to smokers. First prize: death!
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: No, the ABC is not reducing it overseas coverage
Kate Torney, Director, ABC News, responds to yesterday’s piece in Crikey, ABC’s 24-hour news dream drives penny-pinching. She says: “The ABC is aiming to expand its overseas coverage and has no plans to reduce it.”
Pfizer’s campaign to drug as many smokers as possible
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is running a major campaign to convince Australian smokers that they should not try to quit without taking anti-smoking medication, writes Simon Chapman.
Indigenous smoking is finally out of the too-hard-basket
The federal government has put tackling high smoking rates amongst Indigenous people at the centre of its plans to “close the gap”, writes David Thomas.
Tax on cigs trumps gene lottery
It is more sensible to reduce cigarette smoking by high taxation on tobacco products than to spend resources on identifying those at increased genetic risk, writes Wayne Hall.
Health Taskforce wishes you all a long, dull life with nanny
People get fat because they eat too much and don’t exercise enough. Yesterday’s National Preventative Health Taskforce’s report was full of surprises, writes Tim Wilson.
Big Tobacco sues to keep ciggie packets smoker-friendly
In Australia, graphic anti-smoking photos on cigarette packets are now the norm. President Obama has signed a law for similar requirements in the US. But the tobacco industry is fighting back — with the first amendment.
The politics and health consequences of taxing sin
Our friends in the US are seriously considering slapping a sin tax on soft drinks, fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas — should we? asks David Gillespie.
“Research” finds The Simpsons “may” encourage smoking
Oh man. Some jackass eggheads took notes while watching every episode of The Simpsons and they came to the conclusion that the show may cause children to start smoking.
Why increasing tobacco taxes is good for the poor
Research shows the poor and the young are responsive to increases in cigarette prices, says Simon Chapman — when cigs go up, they smoke less and are more likely to quit.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Dodgy real estate practices and more
Crikey readers on … pretty much everything, including Gog & Magog, and Kevin Rudd’s weird hand movements.
Electronic cigarettes: are they still doing you damage?
Electronic cigarettes are attracting attention in China, the US and elsewhere — and the scrutiny of world health officials.
China tells officials to smoke for the economy
China’s central province of Hubei is telling officials they must smoke nearly a quarter of a million packets of cigarettes — to boost the economy — or risk fines.
Crikey Says: Crikey Says
Next stop, more tax on smokes.
