It’s starting to look like substance abuse day here at the Capitol.

Or at least a day for the Cuomo Administration to rip on any number of mind altering drugs and substances.

First Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy brought us up to date on efforts to collect Native American tobacco taxes. And then in shorter order Cuomo’s press office announced the signing of two bills: One to ban the sale of so-called bath salts that actually act like amphetamine; and another banning the sale of hookahs and other smoking paraphernalia to minors.

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Three film companies have drastically reduced smoking in their movies aimed at children and teens, thanks in part to their policies to reduce on-screen tobacco use, a new study says.

Most Americans want smoking banned in all public places but only 19 percent believe that cigarette smoking should be illegal in the United States, a Gallup poll published on Friday said.

A group of U.S. senators is asking the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products to regulate a new form of dissolvable tobacco products that they say poses health risks, especially for children.

Tobacco control policies, such as clean indoor air laws and increased cigarette prices, can also lower the rate of teen smoking, a new study suggests.

Less than six months ago, I lost a good friend, suddenly, to a massive hemorrhagic stroke. In an instant, she lost her ability to speak and we lost a committed community member.

It made me think about what causes a stroke, and if prevention techniques exist. Since May is National Stroke Awareness Month, it felt like the right time to find out.

British and American tobacco companies deliberately added powerful appetite-suppressing chemicals to cigarettes to attract people worried about their weight, according to internal industry documents dating from 1949 to 1999. Chemical additives are just one of several strategies successfully used by tobacco companies over the past 50 years to convince people that smoking makes you thin.

A type of smokeless tobacco popular in Sweden called snus is growing in popularity in the United States. While most recognize that it is a safer alternative to cigarettes or older forms of smokeless tobacco, others are concerned that it will attract young people.

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Today, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to weigh a potential menthol ban, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, Center for American Progress and Legacy® called for menthol cigarettes to be taken off the market, citing key findings published today in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH). New studies show that not only could a ban prevent up to 600,000 smoking-related premature deaths by 2050, a third of those from the African American community alone, but a ban is supported by a majority of Americans (56 percent), particularly African Americans (76 percent) who were found to be disproportionately affected.

Baseball is the national pastime. And those involved in the game must pass a lot of time.

That seems to be where the bizarre infatuation with smokeless tobacco arises.

Be it in training methods adopted, clubhouse games played, movie and music interests or off-the-field wardrobe, baseball players live in a bit of a copycat culture. It’s bound to happen when a group of men are bound together for the better part of eight months each year.