Fire Safe Cigarettes

700 to 900 people in the US die each year from fires caused by smoking materials such as cigarettes, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

• California
• Illinois
• Kentucky
• Massachusetts
• New York
• New Hampshire
• Utah
• Vermont

All 8 of the above states require the safer, "self-extinguishing" cigarettes. At least 18 other states are considering similar legislation, Lorraine Carli, a National Fire Protection Association spokeswoman said.

Fewer people have died in smoking-related fires in New York a year into the ban of conventional cigarette ban, according to records released by the NY state Office of Fire Prevention and Control. New York was the first state requiring tobacco companies to sell self-extinguishing cigarettes (fire-safe cigarettes) on June 2004.

Kentucky, one of the top tobacco growing states and a state with one of the highest adult smoking levels, is the latest state to ban regular cigarettes.

Starting in 2008, tobacco companies must provide special "fire safe" smokes. an effort to prevent fires ignited by cigarettes, according to the National Fire Protection Association About a third of fire deaths in Kentucky are caused by blazes sparked by cigarettes or other smoking materials, according to the state fire marshal's office.

"The value of this kind of cigarette is priceless," said Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who signed the bill into law on March 23, 2007.

More On Smoking Bans.

More On Smoking Deaths.

Are you addicted to nicotine? Take the Nicotine Addiction Test.

Phone, email and in person smoking cessation support is available to help you quit. And don't forget about Smoke-Free, the book.

7 questions to quit smoking.

© Copyright by Arthur A. Hawkins II. All rights reserved. InfoResearchLab.com