Tobacco.org

High Social Capital At Work Helps Stop Smoking 

New research indicates that high social capital at work is associated with an increased likelihood of smoking cessation. A research project within the Academy of Finland's Research Programme on Social Capital and Networks of Trust (SoCa) examined smoking cessation among a total of 4,853 municipal employees who reported to be smokers. Being a non-smoker at follow-up was 1.3 times more likely for those employees who reported high social capital at work than for their counterparts with low social capital at work.

A total of 1,608 employees (or 21 per cent) stopped smoking during the four-year follow-up time frame. . . .

The SoCa project "Social capital and well-being amid the pressures for change of working life", led by Professor Mika Kivimäki, has studied the ways in which social capital and its different subfields are connected to major diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and depression.

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• Europe lights up to fire-safety rules for cigarettes  

A decision by Finland to test the ignition ability of all cigarettes sold in the country could be extended across Europe as of 2011 in an attempt to prevent domestic fires and related deaths.

Last month, the Finnish government suggested adopting the international standard ASTM E2187 to test the ignition performance of cigarettes on bedding and upholstered furniture.

About 700 fires are caused by cigarettes in Finland each year, causing some 35-40 deaths. In Europe, the Commission estimates that a minimum of 1,000 fatalities are caused by such fires each year. Burning cigarettes are also responsible for many forest fires, it adds.

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Finland May Forgo Tax Increase on Tobacco, Taloussanomat Says  

Finland may abstain from a proposed tax increase on tobacco as inflation accelerates, business news Web site Taloussanomat reported, citing financial secretary Petri Malinen at the Ministry of Finance.

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Snuff Ban Feeds Resentment of EU in Finland's Aaland Islands 

The 27,000 people of Finland's Aaland Islands are tired of being bossed around by the European Union. ... The islanders, who often say they feel more like Swedes than Finns, have clashed with the EU over fishing and hunting rights, as well as snus, a form of snuff that is popular in Sweden but illegal to sell in Finland. ... Aalanders consider snus, pronounced ``snoos,'' to be an important part of their Swedish culture. Brussels banned sales of snus, packets of tobacco that are inserted under the top lip, in 1992 on concern it would spread outside Scandinavia and attract new users. Sweden won an exemption before it joined the bloc in 1995. Aaland ferries continue to sell snus in Swedish waters.

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• Finnish court to rule in 'light tobacco' case 

In a Finnish court case that could set a precedent in Europe, two tobacco firms admitted smoking may cause serious illness but denied liability to three women with lung disease who say they were unaware of the dangers.

The Helsinki district court on Friday heard closing arguments in an indemnity and product liability suit brought by the women, aged 64, 58 and 52, against the Nordic unit of British American Tobacco (BATS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Finland's Amer (AMEAS.HE: Quote, Profile, Research), which produced cigarettes until 2004 under licence from Altria's (MO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Philip Morris.

A ruling is due in late August or early September.

Erkki Aurejarvi, the plaintiffs' lawyer, contended that when the women started smoking as teens, there was no way for them to understand the risks, since tobacco firms hid and publicly denied the link between cigarettes and diseases such as lung cancer.

His team also argued that tobacco companies have since the 1970s incorrectly marketed light cigarettes as a healthier option.

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• Tobacco Ban Reduces Absenteeism 

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health estimates the level of absenteeism has dramatically fallen in the restaurant sector since the introduction of a complete ban on smoking last year. Earlier tens of thousands of bar and restaurant personnel had to inhale tobacco smoke.

Around 4,000 to 5,000 restaurant employees still face toxic tobacco fumes at work in the some 500 establishments which were able to obtain a partial exemption from the law until the summer of next year.

The Institute of Occupational Health says those restaurants allowing smoking should give their non-smoking employees jobs in areas where no smoking took place. They were particularly concerned about the plight of expectant mothers . . .

The Service Union United PAM has expressed satisfaction with the tougher anti-smoking law. . . .

For their part, the Association of Hotels and Restaurants (MaRa ry.) says the smoking ban in restaurants has weakened growth in the sector.

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• Women smoking less than before 

Only 17 per cent of women in Finland are smokers, according to a recent study. The figure is the lowest since the 1980s. Health officials are pleased that the trend is the same among young women as well. Of those aged 15 to 24, 16 per cent smoke, showing a sharp decline that has continued for three years. Until recently, the rate of smoking among women had long been at 20 per cent. However, the decline in smoking among men has stopped. The proportion of smokers among men has slightly increased from the previous years, and is most striking among younger men. One in four Finnish men smoke on a daily basis.

A clear majority of smokers want to quit. "The problem is not how to persuade smokers that they should quit, but rather to help them do what they want to do", emphasises Pekka Puska, director-general of the National Public Health Institute. According to Puska, one solution would be to impose higher punitive taxes

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• Workers at mines and quarries face highest cancer risk 

People working in mines and quarries have been found to have the greatest cancer risk of all occupational groups. According to the Nordic Occupational Cancer Study, seamen have the second-highest risk, while tobacco industry workers come in third. The study, which is being released on Tuesday, finds that the lowest cancer risk is among farmers and garden workers. . . .

Cancers among ship crews are linked with factors such as the asbestos insulation that was previously used in machine rooms, and occasional exposure to chemicals in cargo. Seamen also frequently suffer from cancers caused by smoking and alcohol, such as cancers of the mouth larynx, liver, and the lungs. Those working in the tobacco industry have been entitled to free cigarettes. Pukkala also notes that the air in cigarette factories has also had large amounts of carcinogenic substances. Restaurant personnel have suffered from having to breathe large amounts of second-hand smoke.

Male journalists frequently have alcohol-related cancers, but they have fewer smoking-related cancers. Women journalists, for their part, have more than double the lung cancer risk of the average woman, apparently resulting from a higher rate of smoking.

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Could Finland snuff out the Lisbon Treaty? 

Those who want to stop the Lisbon Treaty may be in the mood for grasping, not at straws, but snus.

This is what’s known as “moist oral snuff” but is basically chewing tobacco in a sort of tea bag. It seems that Finland is so exercised about a European Union ban on the product that there is a suggestion that they could reject the treaty.

Or at least the Aland Islands' government could reject it. The islands are a semi-autonomous province of Finland . . .

Ships from the Aland Islands want to be able to sell it in Swedish waters. Although the Aland government could vote against the treaty and simply be outside its scope, YLE news reports that Finnish government ministers don’t find this acceptable.

I can’t see the European Commission risking the treaty over the issue, and it looks very much as if the Finns are playing hardball to get concessions, but interesting nonetheless.

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Trial against Tobacco Companies Begins in Helsinki 

Three women suffering from various lung afflictions are each seeking over 100,000 euros in restitution from Amer and British American Tobacco. The women are accusing the companies of misleading advertising, as tobacco companies previously advertised "light" cigarettes as less harmful to health than regular cigarettes. The women smoked these types of cigarettes for years.

Monday opened a court battle, expected to be waged over months, on whether the tobacco companies are liable to pay compensation to the women, who are now in their fifties and ill.

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• Finnish women sue tobacco firms over lung disease  

Three Finnish women with lung disease are claiming 348,000 euros ($527,900) in damages from two tobacco companies in a case that could set a precedent in Europe.

The women, aged 64, 58 and 52, are suing the Nordic unit of British American Tobacco (BAT) and Finland's Amer, which manufactured cigarettes until 2004 under licence from Altria's Philip Morris. . . .

The plaintiffs argue they were not aware of the dangers of smoking when they started in their teenage years, and that the tobacco companies hid and publicly denied that cigarettes cause various diseases, including lung cancer.

Two of the women have had lung cancer and all three have been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Their lawyers also argue that tobacco companies have since the 1970s marketed light cigarettes as a healthier option. . . .

The hearings are expected to last until May with a decision due later in the year.

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Talk About Travel  

Cherry Hill, NJ: On a trip to see several spots in Scandinavia, my husband and I (both non smokers) booked a cheap room - with bunkbeds - on an overnight ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm. It was cheap for a reason. My tall (6'4) husband didn't fit on the bed, and the floor was a smoking floor! Apparently, lots of young college kids go back and forth from Helsinki to Stockholm and party - drink and smoke - all night. We had already purchased our return trip for a few days later in the same cabin class, but a gracious agent allowed us to upgrade to a room with a view, in a nonsmoking area. Oh, that was heaven!

John Deiner: Good for you, CH. Smoking rooms, if you don't smoke, are disgusting. Glad you changed.

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• Smoking legislation has not driven customers away from downtown bars 

Joking apart, Heikki has had to change his habits. He and many others from among the pub’s old regulars now pop in for a quick beer to say hello to friends and acquaintances, and then they head home or go to some other bar that has - unlike Angleterre - arranged itself a stay of execution for smokers. “What I happen to like are beer and a cigarette. I’m not looking for just a beer”, Heikki says.

Restaurant Manager Vessu Juvonen acknowledges that the new law has hit revenue a little, but certainly not as much as 10 per cent. “It is hard to say, as in some months we are showing a plus and in others sales are down. The drop has not been as radical as we initially feared”, he says.

The secret is that non-smoking citizens have also found the pleasures of sitting in the pub.

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• Ban on smoking has already cut pub sales by 10% 

The new law on smoking in public places, including bars and restaurants, which was introduced in June of last year, has led to a clear decline in bar sales. HOK-Elanto, which owns and operates more than 100 bars and restaurants in the Greater Helsinki area, reports that income from bar sales since last July has been consistently around 10 per cent down on the equivalent monthly figures in 2006.

A similar picture is drawn by other publicans and restaurateurs in the region who were interviewed by Helsingin Sanomat. . . .

Heinonen states by contrast that sales of food have increased in the chain’s eateries. "If the new legislation has caused this, then it has had a positive impact."

"When one looks at customer behaviour patterns, then this [the introduction of the law last June] has been an important change in Finnish restaurant history", comments Heinonen. He nevertheless is confident that people will find their way back to restaurants and bars. "The Finns are not going to stop drinking."

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Young people overall now smoke and drink less 

Efforts made at the beginning of the decade to improve the health of young people seem to be paying off. Fresh research shows that young people experiment with smoking or take up the habit at an older age. Abstinence from alcoholic drink has increased among 12-16 year-olds and inebriation has dropped among 18-year-olds.

The trends were recorded from a survey conducted in 2007 of 5,840 young people aged 12-18.

The replies to the survey indicate that experimenting with smoking has declined among all young age groups. Smoking and tobacco products no longer have the same significance attached to them for young people than for the previous generation.

Smoking is less conspicuous and there is a greater understanding of the health risks it involves, and so it is less of a symbol of adulthood.

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