A cigarette scheme that the U.S. Department of Justice says profited five individuals more than $2.4 million has led to the federal indictment of a Thomasville man, the office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina George E.B. Holding on Monday. Nabil Nafiz Mustafa, 26, of Thomasville, was charged with three other men from the Eastern part of the state and one from New York after an alleged scheme to illegally trade and transport large quantities of cigarettes was unveiled. The investigation was done in combination with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the N.C. Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement; and the Zebulon Police Department. The men made their first appearance in court on Feb. 24. According to the news release, 40 counts were returned on the five … Read entire article »

A committee appointed by the National Toxicology Program went through studies looking at links between diabetes and obesity and chemicals such as arsenic, chemicals found in plastic, pesticides and cigarette smoke. “Some of these associations are pretty strong,” said Michael Gallo of the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, who led a two-day workshop in North Carolina that ended on Thursday. Especially strong was the link between smoking while pregnant and a child’s later risk of becoming obese and developing type-2 diabetes. “It is consistent with our understanding of how diabetes and obesity develop,” Gallo told reporters in a telephone briefing. When a pregnant woman smokes, the baby is often underweight at birth. This can set up a chain of mechanisms that lead to obesity later, which in turn can cause … Read entire article »

Has President Obama smoked his last cigarette? White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced as much in a recent interview with CNN, telling Candy Crowley that the president has abstained from smoking for the better part of a year now, though he still chews Nicorette gum. “I can report that it’s been probably about 9 months since he last smoked a cigarette,” Gibbs said. “He’s done enormously well in quitting.” Gibbs made similar comments earlier this month, telling reporters the president has finally made progress in achieving a goal that he’s been working toward since his election in 2008. “It was a commitment that I think he made to himself at the end of the health care and with his two daughters in mind,” Gibbs said on CNN this weekend. Obama’s smoking habit has … Read entire article »

A 30-year-old man was jumped by several robbers after he gave another man a cigarette Monday afternoon, police said. The victim was on Bristol Pike around 3 p.m. when a man came up to him and asked for a cigarette, police said.As he handed it over, the victim was grabbed by two men, who took an undetermined amount of cash from his pocket before they fled, police said. The suspect who first approached the victim is described as a black male in his late 30s, 6- feet, 1-inch tall, with a thin build. He was wearing a red baseball cap, a dark blue or black T-shirt and jeans. The two men who grabbed the victim were described as black males in their 30s, both 6 feet tall, bald, wearing white T-shirts and … Read entire article »

Over one billion people globally smoke tobacco every day. Smoking dates are coming since 7,000 years ago. The globalization of cigarette smoking originates from the European exploration and conquest of the Americas, where tobacco smoking was common. The Europeans quickly took it up, and it spread around the world rapidly. There are many European cigarett brands like :Fluieras cigarettes or Style cigarettes which are very well known among smokers.Tobacco smoking has developed very quickly. USA statistics – according to the American Heart Association, 23.1% of men (24.8 million) and 18.3% of women (21.1 million) are smokers. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) an estimated total of 443,000 deaths occur every year in the USA from cigarette smoking – almost … Read entire article »