Myrtle Beach City Council listened to several presentations from the public during a meeting Tuesday. Smoke Free Horry and members of the American Cancer Society answered council members questions on what it would take for Horry County to go smoke free and the potential impacts a smoking ban would have on business owners.Smoke Free Horry believes everyone deserves to breathe smoke-free air. It wants to educate the public about the dangers of secondhand smoke, provide free resources to quit smoking...

Californians would let local officials put new taxes on cigarettes, sugary drinks, liquor and oil pumped from the ground if voters in their communities said it was OK, a new poll shows. Local governments cannot tax such products in California now. But a proposal being vigorously debated in the Capitol would allow cities, counties and more than 1,000 school boards to add their own levies and give local voters final say. Nearly 60% of those polled supported such a change.The sentiment spanned all...

The number of US movies in which an actor lights up Bond cigarettes fell sharply between 2005 and 2010, and this could have contributed to the decline in smoking among US teens, a study released Thursday says.A majority of movies — 55 percent — that scored huge box office success in the United States in 2010 had no scenes that included tobacco use, compared with a third of top-grossing films in 2005, the study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.In the same six-year...

Do you happen to be one of those rare people who believes that a little marijuana can improve your shooting skills? It’s an important question as, on Friday, the government declared that pot has no medical benefits whatsoever. Indeed, its opinion is that it should remain in the same class of drug as heroin.Others, however, argue that the drug isn’t completely without merit. Simultaneously, you see, the gaming and marijuana communities have been debating whether pot makes video game players more...

The Sarasota County Commission took a bold step last week by unanimously passing a resolution urging local vendors to cease the sale and marketing of all candy-flavored tobacco products like Karelia cigarettes. The resolution also urges residents not to purchase or use candy-flavored tobacco products in Sarasota County.Moved by the testimony of three youths, the commissioners approved stronger enforcement against tobacco-use near playgrounds at parks, in order to reduce children’s exposure to secondhand...