Tobacco.org

LETTER: TOBACCO TAXES AND CIGARETTE CONSUMPTION IN LOW INCOME POPULATIONS ($$) 

In their letter in response to Franks et al.'s analysis of the failure of tobacco taxes to effectively reduce smoking among lower socioeconomic status smokers,1 Farrelly and Engelen assert that concerns about the regressivity of tobacco can "easily be addressed...by earmarking revenue from cigarette excise taxes to evidence based smoking cessation interventions targeted to low income populations with the highest smoking rates."2(p582)

This is a noble sentiment, but optimistic, given political reality. After a decade of more than 100 separate state increases in tobacco taxes and strong efforts by public health advocates, there have been few instances of such an . . . [Full Text]

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In tough times, expensive tobacco habit's tougher to kick  

So, health officials aren't just trying to capitalize on a New Year's resolution theme in reminding smokers of some state-provided resources.

Washington residents can call the state's tobacco quit line (1-800-QUIT-NOW, or 1-877-2NO-FUME for Spanish) for free personalized coaching and nicotine patches or gum.

"Clark County Public Health is concerned about smoking rates, particularly in lower-income populations, those with mental illness and those with chemical dependence," said Theresa Cross, with the agency's tobacco prevention program.

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A Resolution That May Stick - Spending Less in ’09  

Nelson Murphy, a maintenance worker at a Manhattan hospital, is determined that 2009 will be the year he finally gives up smoking -- it is bad for his health, and, at $9 a pack, his wallet. . . .

The annual Marist College end-of-year resolution poll showed that 12 percent of Americans nationwide are vowing to spend less, the third most popular response after losing weight (20 percent) and quitting smoking (16 percent). Economic pressures are so heavy that "spend less money -- save more" replaced "be a better person," which dropped to seventh place in the survey of 1,003 people nationwide during the second week of December.

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The Neediest Cases - Harlem Man, 79, Rebuilds His Life After Thieves Clean Him Out  

Mr. Ford was referring to the loss -- he calls it a burglary, but admits he does not know what really happened -- of almost all his belongings while he was in the hospital last year for complications from gout and high blood pressure. . . .

While he was in the hospital, Mr. Ford said, he kicked cigarettes, which he had smoked since age 14. But faced with the stress of pulling his life together, he resumed smoking, and is back up to half a pack of Newports a day. . . .

He leaned forward on his cane and took stock of what he called “my world.” His hallway and apartment has the institutional look of most projects in the city, but the elevators usually work, and he has views of Harlem, including City College in the distance. Mr. Ford said he regretted not having children, and regretted resuming smoking.

“That’s next,” he said, “quitting the cigarettes.”

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Study: People continue smoking in bad economy  

Financial stress doesn't push people away from smoking. A study shows people are more likely to smoke than quit during an economic downturn.

A survey from the American Legacy Foundation found that 77 percent of current smokers are stressed by the national economy. This stress is causing some people to delay their attempt to quit smoking, and some are smoking more cigarettes than before.

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EDITORIAL COMMENT * The Fag End  

According to a report by the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) the disease is now poised to become the leading cause of death worldwide by 2010, overtaking cardiovascular ailments as the number one killer. . . .

The United States, on the other hand, has made a turnaround and is now showing a decline in both disease incidence and death for the first time in a decade.

Again, the reason is not far to see. In the 1980s and 1990s when the US and other western countries came down heavily on smoking, tobacco giants began making major moves towards developing countries. As a result smoking fired up as, subsequently, did lung cancer. It's high time, therefore, that countries like India too initiated aggressive anti-smoking measures. Specifically, we need to urgently commit to a comprehensive tobacco control approach including increased taxes and access to cessation tools and programmes.

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• Smoking ban fails to curb the habit: Figures reveal men are smoking MORE  

The ban on smoking in public has failed to increase the number of people quitting, a report revealed yesterday.

The proportion of men who smoke has actually risen since the ban in July last year while there was no change at all among women.

The figures, coming after years of declining smoking rates, are a massive blow to Labour's public heath policy.

According to the report, the average number of cigarettes smoked each day did not fall significantly

A survey of almost 7,000 across all age groups found on average there was no change in the number of cigarettes that smokers said they had.

But in men aged 16 to 34, the number rose, by one and a half cigarettes a day.

It had been hoped the ban would help reduce smoking rates among the poor in particular, but instead the number of cigarettes smoked by working class men has gone up.

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Cancer to Surpass Heart Disease as World's Leading Killer  

By 2010, cancer will be the leading killer in the world, surpassing heart disease, causing more deaths than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

Unless new treatments are found, there could be 27 million people with cancer by 2030, and 17 million cancer deaths annually. And, there could be 75 million people living with cancer within five years after diagnosis, according to a new report, 2008 World Cancer Report, released Tuesday by the World Health Organization.

"The burden of cancer is shifting from developed countries to developing nations," Dr. Otis Webb Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said during a teleconference. "And with a growing and aging population, we must take steps to address this problem now."

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Leading US cancer organizations unite against the growing global cancer burden 

Despite the recent good news that cancer incidence and death rates for men and women in the United States continue to decline, cancer is projected to become the leading cause of death worldwide in the year 2010, and low- and middle-income countries will feel the impact of higher cancer incidence and death rates more sharply than industrialized countries. The nation's leading cancer organizations joined forces today at an event called Conquering Cancer: A Global Effort, to focus attention on the growing global cancer burden and discuss efforts needed to address the problem. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released the new edition of the World Cancer Report. The American Cancer Society, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure discussed how each organization is addressing the global cancer problem and together issued a call to action for the incoming United States presidential administration and Congress. In addition, a new international documentary film entitled "Cancer Is..." was premiered.

According to the new report, the burden of cancer doubled globally between 1975 and 2000. It is estimated that it will double again by 2020 and nearly triple by 2030. . . .

The American Cancer Society's Seffrin said, "For all of our 95 years the Society has pursued the vow of our founders to eliminate cancer in all humankind. We recognize that cancer strikes without regard to borders or socioeconomic status, and we support cancer control initiatives in more than 20 countries, and fund capacity building and tobacco control grants in some 70 countries - including the launch next week of our tobacco Quitline� in India. It is my hope that by bringing proven interventions to places in the world impacted most by this disease, we can diminish needless suffering and save many lives."

Armstrong explained his foundation's international work, saying, "Since announcing the launch of our international cancer awareness campaign at the Clinton Global Initiative less than three months ago, we are already in discussions with more than 20 nations, NGOs and business leaders to advance this issue. Even in a challenging economy, people realize that with cancer there is progress to be made and prevention measures to be taken." . . .

The six call to action steps issued by the three U.S. organizations include: 1) making vaccines that prevent cancer causing infections more widely available to low-income nations, including specifically combating cervical cancer through Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) efforts to make the HPV vaccine accessible and affordable; 2) committing to a comprehensive tobacco control approach in the U.S., which includes taking measures proven effective in reducing smoking rates and having Congress grant the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco; 3) ratifying immediately the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first ever global public health treaty that sets forth comprehensive measures to reduce health and economic impacts of tobacco;

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FACTBOX-Cancer burden growing in world's poor regions 

-- New cases of cancer are forecast to rise by 1 percent per year, with larger increases in China, Russia and India. Cancer is becoming an increasing burden in poor countries.

-- In 2008, 12.4 million new cases of cancer (6.7 million men and 5.8 million women) will be diagnosed.

-- 7.6 million people will die of cancer (4.3 million men and 3.3 million women) from cancer in 2008.

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Global Burden of Cancer Is Increasing  

The global burden of cancer is increasing, hitting hardest the developing countries that have the fewest resources to fight the disease, researchers reported here.

By 2010, cancer will become the leading cause of death worldwide -- replacing AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined as the main health challenge in low-resource countries, said Peter Boyle, M.D., Ph.D., director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

The group's report was issued a month after epidemiologists released statistics showing that cancer incidence and death rates in the U.S. have dropped slightly. (See: New Cancer Cases and Overall Disease Mortality Rates Decline).

"The majority of the global cancer burden is now found in low- and medium-resource countries," Dr. Boyle said at a press conference announcing the publication of the 2008 World Cancer Report.

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LETTER: Raising the cigarette tax hurts working class most  

The people who are pushing the Florida Legislature to raise cigarette taxes ought to come spend a day in my store. They would also see that the very people they are targeting with this tax increase are the working-class people who can least afford it.

If they pass the $1 tax increase they are talking about, smokers will keep buying cigarettes, but not from law-abiding store owners like me. Instead, they'll order them online or buy them from people selling them illegally. Other states are having a terrible problem

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• Losing steam 

In the aftermath of the U.S. financial crisis, Russia too has suffered a devastating economic downturn—the worst since the 1998 collapse of the ruble. Today’s banking and stock market crisis has been exacerbated by the war with Georgia, and Russians now face a host of financial troubles, including double-digit inflation. Predictably, smokers have started looking for less-expensive cigarettes, possibly reversing a decade-long trend toward premium brands. . . .

What remains unchanged on the market at this time is total annual volume, which most indications show is stable, at approximately 390 billion sticks, according to the tobacco manufacturers’ association, Tabakprom. Alexander Lioutyi, head of corporate and regulatory affairs for BAT Russia, says, “In terms of the volume, the market hasn't changed much; for the last three or five years, it is almost flat.” As for taste preferences, American blend is still the top choice.

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The impact of tobacco production liberalisation on smallholders in Malawi  

This paper carries out an assessment of the impact of tobacco production liberalisation on smallholders in Malawi. It shows which smallholders began producing Burley tobacco after liberalisation and which smallholders still continue to produce it.

The analysis shows that that only smallholders who had adequate farm size and adequate funds could start to produce the crop. With regard to the farm size requirements, only smallholders who had enough acreage to sell tobacco on the auction floors and who had enough acreage to rotate crops could start to produce. With regard to the financial requirements, only smallholders who could procure funds through informal institutions or who possessed their own capital to meet the necessary agricultural expenditures could start. Therefore, it was only the wealthy households which could start to produce tobacco after liberalisation and continue to produce it.

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As economic crises deepens...Lives may go up in smoke 

"The quick fix is that when we are under pressure we light up," said Dr Michael Boyne, senior lecturer at the Tropical Medicine Research Unit at the University of the West Indies, at a Gleaner Editors' Forum at the company's North Street offices in Kingston yesterday.

Health officials attending the forum also said the global crisis could affect nutrition in households where breadwinners are heavy smokers.

"We already have a food problem globally and we already have a financial problem globally on top of that. If we have persons who are addicted to tobacco to the extent that they would prefer smoking rather than eating, it erodes the family's disposable income so their purchasing power for food is reduced," said Dr Eva Lewis-Fuller, director of health promotion and protection in the Ministry of Health.

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