Calling all whale watchers, surfers, and sunbathers who also like to smoke: Starting today, if you're going to light up a ciggie in Newport Beach, it's going to have to be beyond 100 feet of the city's parks and beaches. more ›

A 70-year-old woman who dozed off while smoking has died after her Pasadena apartment went up in flames. Firefighters arrived at the scene five minutes after the call around 2am to find the unit in the 300 block of West California Boulevard engulfed in fire. more ›

Nicotine lovers, take heed: the UC system is banning smoking and chewing tobacco on all ten of its campuses altogether starting in 2014. The ban, reports the San Francisco Chronicle, is intended to reduce students' and faculty's exposure to second-hand smoke, but it's also to reduce the number of kids who take up smoking in college. more ›

Smokers who enjoy lighting up with a drink or after a meal on the patio of West Hollywood restaurants are going to have to butt out for good starting Sunday, when a ban in such spaces goes into effect. more ›

Things are getting rough for smokers in Hermosa Beach -- a new ordinance has banned them from sucking down their beloved carcinogens in any outdoor place that people congregate, according to the Daily Breeze. The new regulation, which was approved by the town's City Council in a 4-0 vote on Tuesday night, is expected to go into effect on March 1, 2012. more ›

Officials with the Los Angeles Fire Department have determined that the cause of this week's Mandeville fire is the cigarettes of two guys who were standing around smoking. The fire has been ruled accidental. more ›

While cigarette smoking declines dramatically in California, another method of puffing is on the rise, especially among young adults - hookah use. A study by the American Journal of Public Health released last week states that between 2005 and 2008, hookah use by California adults spiked to more than 40%. more ›

The graphic new images poised to adorn American cigarette packs next year are meant to warn smokers and would-be smokers of the health dangers associated with the habit. However a few large U.S. tobacco companies say the new labels will just plain scare their customers away from cigarettes, and they've filed a suit against the federal government. more ›

Applause sounded throughout the golden state today after California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ron Chapman announced that the state hit a record low in adult smoking. The percentage of adult smokers dropped 1.2% from 2009 (13.1%) to 2010 (11.9%), naming California one of only two states to reach the federal Healthy People 2020 target. more ›

The California State Assembly approved Senate Bill 332 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) today. The bill empowers landlords to prohibit smoking in rental units, thus expanding the availability of smoke-free housing in California. more ›

The smoking ban in Santa Monica could soon take its hold on even more areas, with pending restrictions for lighting up in apartment buildings and in new hotels. "The City Council directed staff Tuesday to prepare ordinances banning smoking in all newly-constructed hotels and requiring landlords to designate apartments in multi-family buildings as either smoking or non-smoking units," explains the The Lookout News. more ›

You can't smoke on many restaurant patios, in some apartments, and in several parks and public spaces in the greater Los Angeles area, but if you are still die-hard about the habit, just a heads up that come September, your pack of cigarettes is going to have one of nine new graphic warning images approved by the U.S. Department of Health. more ›

Sorry smokers! Pasadena is working on an ordinance that would slowly phase out the ability to smoke in apartment buildings and units. The Pasadena City Council instructed the City Attorney's office to "draft a ordinance that would ban smoking in common areas of apartment buildings by the summer; ban smoking in all proposed multi-unit housing; require a disclosure of the law in rental, lease or purchase agreements by January 2012 and ban smoking in apartment units by January 2013," according to the Star-News. more ›

Los Angeles' 15-year-old smoking regulations are about to be expanded. Come Tuesday, smoking will be prohibited both inside and outside of restaurants. The ordinance, passed unanimously by City Council in January 2010, is likely to have a mixed reaction from restauranteurs, patrons, and passerbys in one of the greatest cities for year-round al fresco dining in the world. more ›

Last night, the West Hollywood City Council voted three to two in approval of a proposed ban to outlaw smoking on restaurant patios and in other outdoor areas, according to KTLA. This was a preliminary vote on the proposed ordinance, with a final vote to be held later this month. Those in favor of the ban believe it "will improve the quality of life for residents and visitors," while those opposed "argue the law doesn't do enough to define which establishments have to abide by the restrictions." more ›

Smokers, and smoking supporters, put a big red circle on your calendar on March 8th, because that's the first day of enforcement for a ban on smoking on outdoor eating areas in the City of Los Angeles. The motion, first introduced in 2008 by Councilman Greig Smith, and seconded by Tom LaBonge, will see to it there will be no second hand smoke with your meal on outdoor patios of establishments where food is served. more ›

Back in 2008, former LAPD Chief and current City Councilmember Bernard Park submitted a motion that never picked up any steam. "We need to implement legislation to regulate cigarette smoking by limiting it to specific places where there... more ›

South Pasadena's City Council has approved an ordinance that aims to protect school-age kids of the future, according to the Pasadena Star-News, by ensuring retailers don't sell cigarettes near schools. more ›

A unanimous vote by the Long Beach City Council means smokers are going to have to keep their butts out of local parks, reports the Press-Telegram. more ›

Yesterday we coughed up our Top 19 Costume Predictions For Halloween 2010, but that doesn't mean you can't revisit some classic looks too. Check out this photo inspiration from the ghosts of Halloween past. more ›

A ban on smoking on residential balconies and porches in Santa Monica goes into effect today, reports the Argonaut. Part of tightened local laws regarding second-hand smoke, Ordinance 2318, adopted last month, bans people from lighting up on "all private balconies, patios, porches, and decks within [a] 25-foot radius [around all doors, windows, and vents] and also covers areas on neighboring properties" also within 25 feet of doors, windows, and vents. more ›

Remember in June when L.A. County health officials released a study that broke down smoking rates based on geographical locations? It showed that cities like West Hollywood and Lancaster have some of the highest smoking rates while Malibu, Agoura Hills and Calabasas had the lowest ones. more ›

Santa Monica city leaders should really just ban smoking throughout the whole city. Is the process of of slowly hacking away at bits and pieces of the city -- the latest was to ban smoking 25 feet within an apartment or condo building window or door -- really that efficient? more ›

Having a smoke on an apartment or condo patio or balcony in Santa Monica will soon be verboten under city law. The Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday voted to ban people from smoking "within 25-feet of a door or window in any multi-unit residential building," according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. more ›

Mad Men is back. Of course, Don Draper and company are still smoking. Does the AMC hit make you want to light up? more ›

Voters in Long Beach may have two marijuana decisions to make when they fill out their ballot this Fall. Along with Prop 19, which proposes to legalize marijuana, the city council is considering placing a marijuana tax -- currently proposed as 15% for recreational use, 5 percent for medicinal -- on the November 2nd ballot. more ›

Of the 153 parks in Long Beach, 87 of them are considered small. That's small as in less than five acres and even down to the size of a "glorified median." Nonetheless, one smoker in a small park could mean everyone else is dealing with it. "I tend to go to a lot of smaller parks," Long Beach City Councilmember Suja Lowenthal, who wants city staff to draft an ordinance, told the Press Telegram. more ›

West Hollywood has one of the highest rates of smoking in Los Angeles County. Maybe that's part of the city's rock and roll culture, or maybe it's due to the lack of a public smoking ordinance, something found in many surrounding cities. A task force that met Friday began to shape a proposed smoking ordinance, according to the WeHo News. Under one idea, smoking would be banned at restaurants with outdoor dining areas that serve minors younger than 18. more ›

There are still over 1 million smokers in Los Angeles County, but some cities are more to blame than others. The County of Los Angeles Public Health recently released a study (PDF) breaking down smoking rates based on geographical locations -- for example, West Hollywood has a lot of smokers; Malibu does not -- in hopes of encouraging individual cities to implement tobacco control policies. more ›

It's not just food trucks that annoy Councilmember Tom LaBonge, but also people who dispose of their cigarette butts on the sidewalk, in the streets or wherever else they shouldn't go (and rightly so). He's been ragging on the issue for years and will even approach you if he witnesses it (once at a red light, he said he got out of his car to talk to a driver in front of him). more ›