The death rate from cancer has fallen over the past 25 years, but lung cancer will overtake breast cancer as the biggest killer among women within the next few years, said leading experts.

The tobacco industry has ramped up efforts to persuade New Zealand against plain packaging, by circulating research claiming to show the policy has not worked in Australia.

The number of Year 10 pupils who smoke every day has dropped, new figures released today show.

Roll-your-own tobacco is ''more dangerous'' than factory-made cigarettes and should be banned, says Professor Richard Edwards.

Police have warned against a "free-for-all" after a shipping container with a cargo of several million cigarettes washed ashore in Devon.

Future generations will look back with horrified incredulity at how we allowed a cartel of international drug pushers to promote and sell poison legally.

The bully boys of American trade have issued a thinly veiled threat of repercussions to NZ's exports if the Govt persists with plain packaging, writes Brian Rudman.

Tariana Turia has kicked off the parliamentary debate on plain packaging of cigarettes with a warning to tobacco companies not to meddle in NZ affairs.

A Wanganui dairy has gone smokefree - and business has never been better, says its owner.

A trial which offers smokers the chance to try nicotine replacement therapy whether they want to quit or not has started in Wellington.

Predictably, there is outrage over a scheme in South Auckland that offers women smokers a voucher for up to $300 if they stop smoking while pregnant.

A 10 per cent tax hike on tobacco introduced today will help more Kiwis escape a "creeping death", anti-smoking advocates say.

A dangerous criminal escaped custody at the Dunedin Central police station while outside on a smoking break, police have confirmed.

The latest annual New Zealand Health survey found that the number of adult smokers fell from 17.8 per cent last year to 15.5 per cent this year.

The fall of more than a quarter in the prevalence of smoking, hailed by tobacco-control groups, mirrors the declining sales of cigarettes and loose tobacco.

Adults' rate of smoking has declined to 15 per cent in the latest census, down from 20.7 per cent in 2006.

The rate of babies dying prematurely or from sudden unexpected death in infancy has dropped sharply - but it's still too many, say child health experts.

New research showing smoking causes severe DNA damage to the placenta will greatly motivate pregnant women to kick the habit, a quitting expert says.

The Govt is committed to the Smokefree 2025 goal - a low smoking rate of less than 5%. This is achievable.

Researchers hunting for the next blockbuster heart drug say levels of enzyme activity checked in their study can help to predict a person's risk of coronary heart disease.