Obama signs anti-smoking measure, saying it will help keep children from getting hooked

October 12th, 2009 No buts! Syrian president bans smoking in publicDAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's president on Monday issued a decree banning smoking in public places, joining an anti-smoking trend already under way in other Arab countries. The ban also includes a rare restriction in the Arab world: limiting places where Syrians can indulge in the hubbly bubbly — water pipes known locally as argileh.

October 12th, 2009 Syrian president bans smoking in publicDAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's president on Monday issued a decree banning smoking in public places, joining an anti-smoking trend already under way in other Arab countries. The ban also includes a rare restriction in the Arab world: limiting places where Syrians can indulge in the hubbly bubbly — water pipes known as argileh here.

September 14th, 2009 NYC wants to make parks smoke-freeNEW YORK — New York City's famous parks may be going smoke-free. The city's health commissioner says the next goal in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's anti-tobacco crusade is to ban smoking at city parks and beaches.

August 6th, 2009 Iraq: Cabinet considers anti-smoking lawBAGHDAD — The Iraqi Cabinet has approved a draft bill to ban smoking in public places, a government spokesman said Thursday. It's the first such bill in a country where lighting up is virtually a rite of passage for most young men.

July 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Smokers can immediately improve their cardiovascular health by kicking the butt, according to a study. Researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, NY, say that smoking cessation provides immediate benefits to patients.

June 24th, 2009 NEW YORK - US President Barack Obama has confessed that he constantly struggles giving up smoking and sometimes 'messes up' by giving into occasional cigarettes. The popular leader, who has been trying to kick the habit completely, made the revelation at a White House news conference in between talks on health care reform, a new energy policy and a halt to Iranian repression of dissent.

June 23rd, 2009 Obama admits occasional cigaretteWASHINGTON — One day after signing legislation giving the government unprecedented power to regulate tobacco, President Barack Obama is admitting that he's sometimes "fallen off the wagon" in his own effort to stop smoking. Obama told reporters Tuesday that he's "95 percent cured." But he added that "there are times where I mess up." He said he's not a "daily" or "constant" smoker, and that he doesn't smoke in front of his kids.

June 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - While President Barack Obama continues to struggle with his addiction to cigarettes; he has signed the tobacco regulation measure into law for the cause of health care reform. Calling it "a victory for bipartisanship" and "a victory for health care reform," President Obama signed the law this afternoon during a Rose Garden ceremony attended by anti-smoking groups and members of Congress.

June 23rd, 2009 Get a whiff: Obama admits occasional cigaretteWASHINGTON — It fell to President Barack Obama to confirm the gossip that his aides had spent weeks trying to snuff out: He still sneaks an occasional cigarette. "There are times where I mess up," Obama said at a White House news conference on Tuesday.

June 22nd, 2009 Obama, citing his smoking woes, signs tobacco lawWASHINGTON — Lamenting his first teenage cigarette, President Barack Obama ruefully admitted on Monday that he's spent his adult life fighting the habit. Then he signed the nation's toughest anti-smoking law, aiming to keep thousands of other teens from getting hooked.

June 22nd, 2009 Obama lauds anti-smoking billWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has signed the strongest anti-smoking measure ever, calling it an extraordinary accomplishment that will help keep children from getting hooked on cigarettes. Standing in the Rose Garden with a number of lawmakers and other guests, Obama declared: "It is a law that will save American lives." The legislation gives the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented authority to regulate tobacco and cigarette marketing.

June 22nd, 2009 Obama signs anti-smoking bill, cites own struggleWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama cited his own long struggle to quit the cigarettes he got hooked on as a teenager as he signed the nation's strongest-ever anti-smoking bill Monday and praised it for providing critically needed protections for kids. "The decades-long effort to protect our children from the harmful effects of tobacco has emerged victorious," Obama said at a signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.

June 22nd, 2009 Obama to sign anti-smoking bill in Rose GardenWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is set to sign into law an anti-smoking bill that will give the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented authority to regulate tobacco. Obama is scheduled to sign the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act during an event Monday in the Rose Garden.

June 13th, 2009 Obama pledges to quickly sign anti-smoking billWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is lauding the passage of historic anti-smoking legislation that gives the government sweeping authority to regulate tobacco products, pledging to quickly sign the measure into law. "For over a decade, leaders of both parties have fought to prevent tobacco companies from marketing their products to children and provide the public with the information they need to understand what a dangerous habit this is," said Obama, who has struggled for years to kick his own nicotine habit.

April 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US House of Representatives Thursday approved tougher anti-smoking controls in the US, for the first time granting a government agency the power to regulate tobacco products. The House voted 298-112 to hand the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) control over advertising and even the contents of cigarettes, though it does not allow the agency to ban tobacco outright.