"Ultra low tar" brands claiming to deliver just 0.1 milligram (mg) of nicotine, actually delivered closer to 1 mg.

BBC: Smokers 'puff harder on low tar brands'

It would prohibit tobacco companies from using terms such as "low tar, " "light" or "mild, " require larger warning labels on packages, and restrict advertising of tobacco products.

CNN: Obama welcomes bill to regulate tobacco

Clive Bates, director of the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health, told BBC News Online that the whole concept of low tar cigarettes was a "complete confidence trick" played on the consumer.

BBC: Women 'conned' by low tar cigarettes

In a separate ruling this summer, a different federal judge banned the major tobacco companies from selling light, mild, and low tar products in the United States, agreeing that smokers have been deceived about the dangers.

NPR: Judge OKs Class-Action Suit by 'Light' Smokers

With counsel from TIRC, tobacco companies began mass-marketing filtered cigarettes and low-tar formulations that promised a "healthier" smoke.

CNN: A brief history of tobacco

The use of terms such as low-tar is set to be banned from September 2003 under a European Union directive.

BBC: Women 'conned' by low tar cigarettes

It said the law will give the FDA the power to restrict advertising, stop illegal sales of tobacco products, require graphic health warnings that cover the top half of the front and back of cigarette packs, ban misleading health claims such as "light" and "low-tar, " regulate health claims, require disclosure of the contents of tobacco products, require changes in tobacco products.

CNN: Senate passes bill increasing FDA power over tobacco products

They will soon bioengineer bacteria to melt oil out of tar sands, turn grass into diesel fuel and scavenge natural resources of every kind out of low-grade, thinly dispersed deposits.

FORBES: Techno-Optimism

Up north in the tar sands, many projects are being postponed, as the credit crunch adds to the woes caused by low oil prices and high labour and material costs.

ECONOMIST: Canada: A sticky ending for the tar sands | The