GASP of Nebraska

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled Thursday that the tobacco industry engaged in racketeering, finding in favor of the government in its lawsuit against the tobacco industry in a 1,653-page ruling.
Kessler found the conspiracy dates back to 1953, when a group of tobacco companies met together at the Plaza Hotel in New York City and devised a public relations plan to counter health concerns associated with smoking.
Kessler said that, even after the 1964 Surgeon General's report linking smoking to lung cancer, tobacco companies continued "to falsely deny and distort the serious health effects of smoking."
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An owner of an Omaha bar is asking a court to declare Omaha's new smoking ban unconstitutional, saying it gives keno operators and stand-alone bar owners special privileges.
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Hotel operator Marriott International Inc. has decided to make all of its hotels in the United States and Canada smoke-free starting in September.
The move announced Wednesday follows an industry trend, said analyst William Crow of Raymond James & Associates. The Westin Hotel chain made its rooms smoke-free in February, followed in March by Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif. Other hotels have been steadily reducing their inventory of smoking rooms in recent years.
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Mayor Mike Fahey signed a new city ordinance today banning smoking in most workplaces.
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U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona today issued a comprehensive scientific report which concludes that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent. The finding is of major public health concern due to the fact that nearly half of all nonsmoking Americans are still regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.
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