Alcohol & Tobacco

Voters in November rejected ballot measures to increase tobacco taxes in Montana and South Dakota, while Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s proposed budget includes a tobacco tax hike.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel says barns rented for weddings and other events require liquor licenses.

FDA agents seized more than 1,000 pages of documents from e-cigarette company

Craft breweries in Illinois may now directly distribute beer to bars and pubs, after decades of being forced to use government-mandated middlemen.

“Although ‘protecting the children’ is a laudable goal, this rhetoric is overused and threatens the millions of smokers who have quit smoking combustible cigarettes by using these products.” - Lindsey Stroud

The South Boston, Virginia City Council is considering levying a tax on tobacco sales in the city to fund pay hikes for city government employees and pad general revenue.

Using the tobacco settlement to pay for public employee pensions, while doubling down against safer tobacco products.

It’s been more than 50 years since the surgeon general issued a report linking smoking to health hazards such as lung cancer and heart disease.

The Alaska Legislature approved a bill that would prohibit the use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes in privately owned spaces such as bars, restaurants, and taxis.

The city of Minneapolis has enacted an ordinance increasing the minimum legal age for purchasing cigarettes and other tobacco products.

“Alderman Ed Burke's proposed ordinance is nothing more than preening for moralizing anti-fun busybodies.” - Jesse Hathway

FDA’s regulation of electronic cigarettes and vaping devices underscore the agency’s unwillingness to promote, or even acknowledge, tobacco harm reduction (THR) products.

Indiana residents are now able to beat the summer heat by purchasing a beer on Sundays, for the first time since 1816.

The FDA announced a plan mandating a reduction of nicotine levels in combustible cigarettes.

The American Cancer Society’s (ACS) board of directors issued a new position statement on e-cigarettes, stating the products are “less harmful than smoking cigarettes” and recommending “clinicians support all attempts to quit.

The Alabama state House Judiciary Committee is considering a bill that would increase the minimum age for individuals legally to purchase and use tobacco products and e-cigarettes.

A bill pending in the Indiana state Senate Committee on Pensions and Labor would allow private employers to terminate employees for using cigarettes and tobacco products during their free time.

“Hopefully, the FDA will look at the evidence from around the world that shows that encouraging and allowing companies to honestly market their less harmful products is good for public health.” - John Nothdurft

Maryland lawmakers are considering a bill by Comptroller Peter Franchot that would repeal some of the state’s regulations on craft beer breweries.

Voters in South Dakota may soon be considering a new proposal to dramatically increase the state’s tobacco tax.

The Rhode Island Senate Committee on Health and Human Services met in September without considering a bill to add e-cigarettes to the state’s tobacco ban.

Alabama’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABC), a government agency with the stated mission of maintaining “rigorous control” of the distribution and licensing of alcoholic beverages in the state, reversed a ban on restaurants’ margarita sales.

A new law will allow Oklahoma voters to vote to roll back local government restrictions preventing sales of wine and liquor on Sundays.

"Treating e-cigarettes like cigarettes can’t possibly lower exposure to secondhand smoke, because there is no secondhand smoke from e-cigarettes." - Jeff Stier