A supplemental issue of Nicotine and Tobacco Research published today includes a variety of key findings on the smoking habits of college freshmen; nicotine dependence; the use of tobacco by individuals with attention- deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, depression and anxiety; and the challenges of so-called “reduced-exposure” tobacco products.

Of the 1.5 million smokers supported by NHS stop smoking services between 2003 and 2006, researchers found that smokers from poorer areas were using these services - and successfully quitting - more often than those from more affluent communities.

Increasing the level of Quitline smoking cessation services and offering free nicotine patches are a successful and cost-effective way to reduce smoking rates, according to two new studies in the December issue of Tobacco Control, a peer-reviewed publication of the British Medical Journal.

Joe Camel may be long gone, but that doesn’t mean tobacco marketers have abandoned their efforts to get young people hooked on smoking.

New Brown University research shows that alcohol and tobacco use doesn’t increase the risk of cancers of the mouth and throat for people infected with human papillo-mavirus 16 (HPV16), a common sexually transmitted virus in the U.S. The findings are the strongest evidence yet that head and neck cancers have two distinct causes and may require different prevention and treatment methods.

Smoking and depression often go hand-in-hand for new mothers, according to a study in the November 2007 issue of Preventive Medicine by Temple University researcher Dr. Robert Whitaker.

Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) are defining the most effective ways to treat tobacco dependence, and in an article released in the November issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) they highlight the surprisingly significant role that the health practitioner can play in helping people quit smoking.

Smoking during pregnancy has many adverse effects on fetal development. A new study in mice by Andrea Jurisicova and colleagues at the University of Toronto, Canada, now adds the possibility that smoking before pregnancy or while breast-feeding might substantially decrease the fertility of female offspring to the long list of possible negative outcomes.

An anti-smoking group has raised concerns about the number of pregnant women who smoke. An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report on mothers and babies based on figures collected in 2005 has found that 17.4 per cent of women admitted to smoking while they were pregnant.

Tobacco smoke-filled air is bad for cardiovascular health, and drinking alcohol at the same time only makes it worse, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Despite the gruesome images on cigarette packs, a survey shows Australian smokers are surprisingly ignorant of the dangers of the habit.

The American Cancer Society held its 31st annual American Smoke Out today, offering information on tobacco product's deadly risks and urging smokers to call it quits.