Tobacco.org

• Up in Smoke 

The adult cigarette smoker's brand loyalty is legendary in the convenience industry. However, this renowned fidelity is being tested, and in some cases broken, as the slumping economy creates cash-strapped smokers coping with a combination of record gas prices, elevated food costs and increasing taxes on cigarettes.

Evidence of trading down to lower cigarette tiers was apparent in the recently released Convenience Store News 2008 Industry Report, which found branded discount and generic cigarette brands increased market share by 2 and 0.3 percentage points, respectively, while premium brands fell in market share by 3.1 percentage points. Meanwhile, average sales per store for premium brands -- which include Philip Morris USA's Marlboro, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s Camel and Lorillard's Newport -- declined more than $15,700, while branded discount, like Doral, Pall Mall and Basic, grew nearly $6,000 per store and generic brands, such as Gold Coast and private label, increased $800.

Adult smokers began trading down from premium to mid-priced cigarette brands more than two months ago

Jump to full article »

Labor would ban smoking in outdoor areas  

West Australian Labor says it will impose widespread outdoor smoking bans if it retains government after the September 6 election.

In July 2006, the state government banned smoking in all WA pubs and clubs in legislation that provided a $2,000 fine for breaches of the law.

Health Minister Jim McGinty on Wednesday said if Labor was re-elected to a third term it would extend the ban to alfresco dining areas, cars carrying children and children's playgrounds.

Jump to full article »

• BJOG Release: Using Nicotine Replacement Therapy During Pregnancy 

To assist in smoking cessation, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is commonly prescribed but there is little information about the effects of NRT on a pregnant woman and her baby. New research to be published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology examines whether NRT is safe to use during pregnancy.

87, 032 singleton pregnancies from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) over the period 1996 - 2002 were selected for the study. . . .

The study confirms that smoking during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of stillbirth regardless of whether NRT was used. 2% of women in the study used NRT. Researchers found that women using NRT during pregnancy tended to be older (35 years and above), were first-time mothers and had normal weight (BMI below 25). . . .

"Our study suggests that NRT-assisted smoking cessation or smoking reduction in early pregnancy provides some protection from stillbirth among women who continue to smoke during pregnancy. More research on a range of smoking-associated health outcomes is needed if we are to understand the overall safety of NRT use in pregnancy."

Jump to full article »

• Brewery to allow black and blue e-cigarettes  

SMOKERS will be allowed to use a new black and blue electronic cigarette on Heron and Brearley premises.

The e-cigarette, a white battery-operated tobacco-free cigarette which produces steam vapour instead of smoke and glows red at the tip when inhaled, has been promoted as a legal way to side-step the new smoking ban.

But earlier this month the largest brewery in the Island decided to ban these look-a-like cigarettes from their premises for fear they would spark conflict and confusion.

As a result of the decision, Jason Cropper, a director of The Electronic Cigarette Company UK Ltd, said: 'We have now looked at manufacturing different colours and already have a pink version available.

Jump to full article »

• Smoking Rate Among Male Adults Falls to 40% 

Smoking among South Korean male adults continues to fall amid cigarette tax hikes and anti-smoking campaigns.

South Korea's smoking rate for adult males stood at 40.4 percent in the first half of this year, down 1.4 percentage points from last year, according to a survey of 2,000 adult males conducted by Gallup Korea on behalf of the Health Ministry.

The smoking rate peaked at 79.3 percent in 1980,

Jump to full article »

• Ill man sues tobacco giant | theage.com.au 

TERRY Gottlieb says he was 13 when he started smoking Marlboro cigarettes.

Now the emphysema sufferer, 58, is suing tobacco giant Philip Morris, claiming it knew its cigarettes could cause serious injury, but failed to warn him.

In his statement of claim before the County Court, Terry John Gottlieb, representing himself, alleged Philip Morris knew smoking could cause serious medical problems such as emphysema but withheld this information from consumers.

The Ballarat resident, who used an inhaler several times in court yesterday, also claimed the company failed to make him aware of the irreversible lung damage caused by smoking and the addictive effect of nicotine.

He alleged that when he started smoking he thought he was smoking a tobacco product, "not chemicals and poisons". . . .

In its response to his claim for an undisclosed sum, lawyers for the company said that at the relevant time it had been common knowledge that smoking cigarettes could cause serious disease, and were difficult to quit. . . .

"Cigarette smoking has not at all relevant times satisfied the criteria applied from time to time by scientists and medical practitioners in order to conclude the activity is addictive." . . .

Judge Susan Cohen adjourned the matter to October and ordered Mr Gottlieb to pay the costs of Philip Morris for yesterday because he had not provided documents that she had requested.

Jump to full article »

Bigger belly may up smokers' lung cancer risk 

Smokers who carry more weight around their waistlines may be at greater risk of lung cancer, according to a new study.

The finding, along with the fact that lung cancer risk is actually higher among leaner smokers, provides "intriguing" evidence that how a smoker stores fat could play a role in his or her likelihood of developing lung cancer, Dr. Geoffrey C. Kabat of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, told Reuters Health.

Several studies have found that a lower body mass index (BMI) means a higher lung cancer risk among smokers. "Reflex explanations" for the link include the fact that smokers are skinnier than non-smokers, Kabat noted in an interview, as well as the tendency for people to gain weight after they quit smoking. Another proposed mechanism for the relationship is that people lose weight when they develop lung cancer.

But careful analysis of the data doesn't bear out these explanations, Kabat said. To better understand the relationship, he and his colleagues looked at data from the Women's Health Initiative. . . .

The findings, reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, must be confirmed by other investigators, and don't offer any clues on the mechanism behind the relationship, Kabat noted.

Jump to full article »

Man jailed for NHS smoking scam 

A modern day "Walter Mitty" who stole �90,000 posing as an NHS no-smoking advisor, has been jailed for 18 months.

Harry Singer, 55, from Earl's Court, west London, invented an army of imaginary quitters as part of his scam to defraud his local NHS trust.

Singer used most of the money wrongly paid to him to pose as a community philanthropist to win respect and friends, Blackfriars Crown Court heard. . . .

But Kensington & Chelsea Primary Care Trust (KCPCT) was puzzled by Singer's claim that his 2,000 plus "cures" represented a 30% success rate.

Jump to full article »

Lawmaker questions govt's determination to control tobacco use 

A written interpellation by lawmaker Leong Iok Wa yesterday said the government did not introduce any measures to respond to the tobacco control treaty which has been in place in Macau since 2006.

The government has recently revised the consumption tax regulations in order to exempt alcohol and fuel levies for local businesses.

However, the lawmaker said the government did not propose a levy increase for tobacco and tobacco products at the same time, but told the Legislative Assembly last week that such revision would be submitted for deliberation along with a string of anti smoking measures in the last quarter of the year.

This legislative orientation, Ms Leong added, was "difficult to understand" as The World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) has already been applied to Macau for two years.

Jump to full article »

Arts diary: Frieze falls foul of the smoking ban as it lights up for the art world 

An artwork intended to be a commentary on the smoking ban may never see the light of day - because of the smoking ban.

US artist Norma Jeane, whose previous works include a cheese made of breast milk and an invitation to 160 people to have sex on a Roman roof terrace, wanted to create three transparent booths, each just big enough for one person to stand in and smoke.

Norma Jeane, who takes his name from the fact that he was born on the day Marilyn Monroe died, intended to highlight the fact that the once social activity of smoking has been transformed through legislation into an antisocial act. The Straight Story, as the work is titled, was commissioned by Frieze, one of the biggest art fairs in the world . . .

Members of the public were to be invited to smoke inside the booths, which would stand within the Frieze tents. But Westminster council has rejected an application for the "smoking booth" art installation on the grounds that it has insufficient "artistic merit".

Jump to full article »

Pete Robinson: Scottish pubs thriving since smoking ban - claims ASH 

I've mentioned before that when I'm in need of a good belly laugh I go to the ASH News Bulletins. There's always some whitecoat in Timbuktu who has proven a link between passive smoking and ingrowing toenails. Or a brand new set of statistics even more farcical than the last.

And I wasn't disappointed. ASH are running a report claiming Scotland officially now has more pubs than before the smoking ban. . . .

You see the claimed figure of 5186 pubs refers only to the number of licences in force at the end of 2007. Because these licences are only renewed every three years those stats include many 'ghost' publicans who have gone bust owing to the ban while their licence technically remains in force.

The Scottish Beer and Pub Association cites Industry research showing at least 450 pubs have closed since the smoking ban, almost 10 per cent of Scotland's entire pub stock.

Once again it's the traditional locals, especially in rural areas, that are closing at an alarming rate. . . .

Although ASH purports to be a 'charity' it's principle source of funding comes from the Tobacco Advisory Group (TAG) - a tiny, somewhat obscure organisation who's principal role is to dole out cash to proactive anti-smoking parties.

But who funds TAG? You may (or perhaps not) be surprised to learn that TAG is a subsidiary of Cancer Research UK. . . .

Should charities be meddling in politics, significantly in politically correct social engineering? Not when their relationship with government becomes so intertwined they are virtually allowed to dictate policies that override previous electoral promises already voted on by the public.

It's undemocratic and it smacks of corruption. In short it stinks.

Jump to full article »

• New Albany council passes smoking ban  

The New Albany City Council voted last night to prohibit smoking in enclosed public places, including bars, restaurants and some private clubs. Advertisement

As amended during last night's meeting, the ordinance will not take effect until March 9, 2009, to give residents plenty of time to get ready for it, council members said. Originally, the ordinance set 60 days after passage as the effective date.

By approving the "City of New Albany Smoke Free Air Act," the council joined Louisville, Jeffersonville and other communities in the region and across the country that have decided to restrict smoking, most of them citing health hazards posed by secondhand smoke to employees and others.

Voting for the ordinance on the two final votes that were required for passage last night were council members Dan Coffey, Bob Caesar, Patrick McLaughlin, John Gonder and Jeff Gahan. Opposed were Steve Price, Diane Benedetti, Kevin Zurschmiede and Jack Messer. . . .

Mayor Doug England has the power to veto an ordinance approved by a 5-4 margin; it would then take a 6-3 vote by the council to override. England has declined to comment on what he would do.

Jump to full article »

NARSAVAGE/REMICK: Smoking bans are essential to public health 

Proposed bans on indoor smoking in public places are causing heated arguments in cities around the country. Bar owners in Charleston and Morgantown, as well as Indiana, Idaho and North Dakota, complain that clearing the air of secondhand smoke will chase business away as well as limit people's rights.

While elected officials might be forced to balance competing interests, scientists and medical professionals are united on one vital point: Secondhand smoke kills. . . .

Tobacco use is the No. 1 leading cause of premature, preventable death in West Virginia. The right to smoke is not the issue. The issue is that secondhand smoke intensifies risks of death and disease - it is killing our children and elders. Elected officials who, resisting pressure from bar and restaurant owners, enact clean-air policies deserve our support. They will support an improved quality of life for everyone, including children, by lowering health costs and reducing suffering and deaths.

Jump to full article »

Ghana/Canada strengthens ties in tobacco control  

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Elias Sory, has stressed the need to galvanize efforts to help curb a tobacco epidemic before the situation gets out of hand. He said preventing the problem and saving the younger ones from the epidemic is the best thing any country should aim at.

Dr. Sory was speaking in Accra at a consultative meeting on the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). He said it took Canada many years to get over the problem because the authorities ignored it initially. The meeting was to identify and document roadblocks to the FCTC's implementation and international funding of tobacco control in Ghana and also establish mechanisms of continuous cooperation between Ghana and Canada to strengthen tobacco control in Ghana .

Jump to full article »

• Rock icon takes on anti-smoking laws 

Musician Kim Larsen is one of the main forces behind a new campaign aimed at criticising the country's recent anti-smoking laws, reports Fyens Stiftstidende newspaper.

Larsen, who became popular in the 1970s with Gasolin' - widely considered Denmark's biggest rock band ever - has teamed up with cultural foundation Himmelblå Fonden to print and put up thousands of posters voicing opposition to the smoking regulations.

Carrying the heading 'Tillykke med Rygeforbudet' ('Congratulations on the smoking ban'), the posters show a 'no smoking' logo followed by 'Gesundheit macht frei' - meaning loosely 'Good health brings freedom' in German.

The posters have been placed in many train stations and advertising stands in Denmark's four largest cities

Jump to full article »