You damn well ought to be able to buy your smokes at Walgreen's if you can buy them at Safeway, says Justice William McGuiness of the First Appelate District Court. The court ruled 3-0 yesterday that San Francisco's citywide ban on cigarette sales at drugstores was "flimsy on its face" given that they do not extend the ban to grocery stores that have pharmacies. more ›

Though it was shot down last year by local businesses, on Tuesday the city reintroduced legislation that would bar the merciful release of nicotine "near the doors, vents and operable windows of any building, including restaurants, shops, offices and housing complexes." more ›

Since many of you who smoke cigarettes -- dirty, filthy, rapey cigarettes that makes The Baby Jesus cry -- we know it's hard for you to always find a makeshift ashtray in which to trash them. Which is why most of you toss them on the street or out your car window. Now, however, Gavin Newsom, who hates smokie treats, wants the cleanup cost of picking up said butts to fall on smokers' shoulders via a new a new citywide fee. The proposal, which will go before the Board of Supervisors next month, "would add 33 cents to the cost of a pack of cigarettes, to offset the estimated $10.7 million the city spends annually removing discarded butts from gutters, drainpipes and sidewalks," reports the New York Times. What's more, according to Newsom, this added fee might (but probably not since addicts will find a way to get their fix) help smokers kick the habit. "In general, fees help reduce the consumption and use of tobacco ... and we think that will have a very beneficial public health component.” [via Curbed] more ›

The entertaining/controversial Chris Daly, who seems a bit quiet as of late, has a new target now: wafts of cigarette smoke. We're told that his latest push of legislation "calls for a smoking ban outside of restaurants, in waiting areas, within 20 feet of nonresidential buildings," and in common areas of apartment buildings. That is to say, you might have to look elsewhere to spark up that Capri or Virgina Slim while eating out. The Board of Supervisors will vote on the measure come Thursday. more ›