Tobacco.org

Butts pile up as smokers kicked out 

The clean air inside bars and restaurants is leading to dirtier areas outside some of them.

The mess is a byproduct of a new state law that took effect July 1 that prohibits smoking in most enclosed public places. With bar and restaurant patrons now forced to light up outside, cigarette butts are piling up on entryways and sidewalks across the state.

"It's a pretty amazing amount," said Kacy Smith, owner of Tic Toc restaurant/bar in Cedar Rapids.

He said the number of cigarette butts that don't make it into the receptacle outside has gone from about 20 per night to 120 since July 1.

The Smoke-free Air Act was approved last spring to much controversy. Opponents are still voicing their displeasure.

Among other complaints, some restaurant and bar owners have argued that smoking should be allowed on outdoor patios.

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Butts piling up since smoking ban 

Business owners say the statewide ban on smoking inside is creating a mess outside.

They say the number of cigarette butts tossed on the ground outside of their doors has increased dramatically since the smoking ban went into effect on July 1.

The ban was approved last spring and opponents are still voicing their displeasure, including their argument that smoking should be allowed on outside patios. Businesses that don't prepare food can allow that, but many bars serve at least some food, forcing smokers to go outdoors to light up.

Kacy Smith, the owner of Tic Toc restaurant and bar in Cedar Rapids, says the number of cigarette butts that miss the ashtray outside her business has risen from about 20 per night to about 120 per night.

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• Blanket ban on indoor smoking from Oct 2: Ramadoss 

Private offices and other establishments can no longer take the cover of having designated rooms for puffing cigarettes with the government sticking to plans to strictly enforce the ban on smoking indoors from October two.

And if the smokers cannot resist the urge to have a puff they will have to come out to the streets.

"From October 2, the government would introduce the no smoking policy in all indoor establishments," Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss told reporters in Bangalore on Tuesday. The "workplace smoke-free policy" is coming into effect to coincide with the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

"Smoking will not be permitted in any private or public building. Companies can no longer have designated smoking rooms.

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Anti-smoking campaigns apparently have little effect on youth 

Smoking rates in Alberta among youth are rising above the national average even though the province has spent millions of dollars trying to get people to quit, new figures released by Health Canada suggest.

New data from the 2007 Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey suggest that the number of young smokers in Alberta has increased: 20.1 per cent of surveyed Albertans between the ages of 15 of 19 said they smoke. The national average for that age range is 15.2 per cent.

In 2006, Alberta's average for 15-to-19-year-olds was also 15.2 per cent, nearly matching the national average. However, the statistical confidence intervals for the 2006 and 2007 figures overlap, meaning the observed jump in the youth smoking rate could derive simply from a statistical anomaly.

"We are definitely concerned about the rate of smoking among young people aged 15 to 19. It should be much lower than the smoking rate of the general population, in my view, and it should not be the same rate as adult smoking," said Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, an Alberta anti-smoking organization.

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Stratford's tobacco-free policy praised as role model for other communities 

The Council for a Smoke-Free P.E.I. has recognized the Town of Stratford for creating a community-wide tobacco-free policy.

Each year at its annual general meeting the council honours an Island individual, community group or organization that has played a significant role in tobacco control on Prince Edward Island.

“The council is very pleased to present this award to the Town of Stratford,” says council president Dawn Binns.

“By adopting a tobacco-free policy, Stratford has become a role model for other Island communities who wish to support healthy environments for their citizens.

“The P.E.I. Recreation and Facilities Association has also been working to adopt tobacco-free policies in various Island communities, such as Borden-Carleton and the City of Summerside through the Tobacco-Free Recreation in Sport Mandate.” . . .

“We recognize that the exposure to tobacco smoke is hazardous to the health of our citizens, non-smokers and smokers alike,” said Stratford Mayor Kevin Jenkins.

“The Town of Stratford is responsible to ensure that our residents, employees, volunteers and visitors are not exposed to harmful situations. By moving towards a tobacco-free community, we are living up to that responsibility and making Stratford an even better place to live, work and play.”

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• LETTER: HEALTON/TOOMEY/WHEELER: Smoking: an R-rated offense  

The Times deserves credit for recognizing in its Aug. 23 editorial "Smoking in the movies" the tremendous impact smoking in movies has on our nation's youth. We disagree with its assertion, however, that giving movies that depict smoking an R rating amounts to censorship. The Motion Picture Assn. of America's rating system is not in place to control the content of films; rather, it allows parents to judge whether they want their children to see specific content such as drug use, violence or other risky behaviors. Because smoking kills more than 400,000 Americans each year and there is evidence (PDF) that more than 67% of adults agree that movies with cigarette smoking should be rated R unless they clearly depict the dangers of smoking, an R rating is simply a pragmatic approach to a public health epidemic. . . .

How many more studies will it take to show Hollywood that it has the power to make a difference and safeguard young lives from lifelong tobacco addictions? There are other and more original ways to convey independence, anxiety, toughness, weakness, desperation and sex appeal. If Hollywood makes connections on screen between cigarettes and these characteristics, or shows that cigarettes are a normal and effective way to deal with anxiety, weakness and desperation, it is doing much of the legwork for Big Tobacco.

We're confident that the world's masters of special effects can both save lives and work their magic at the box office. The nation's public health community is eager to see "The End" for smoking in youth-rated movies and is confident audiences will applaud loudly when it happens.

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• Smoking riskier to women's hearts than men's 

Women typically get heart disease much later than men, but not if they smoke, researchers said Tuesday.

In fact, women who smoke have heart attacks nearly 14 years earlier than women who don't smoke, Norwegian doctors reported in a study presented to the European Society of Cardiology. For men, the gap is not so dramatic; male smokers have heart attacks about six years earlier than men who don't smoke.

"This is not a minor difference," said Dr. Silvia Priori, a cardiologist at the Scientific Institute in Pavia, Italy. "Women need to realize they are losing much more than men when they smoke," she said. Priori was not connected to the research.

Dr. Morten Grundtvig and colleagues from the Innlandet Hospital Trust in Lillehammer, Norway, based their study on data from 1,784 patients admitted for a first heart attack at a hospital in Lillehammer.

Their study found that the men on average had their first heart attack at age 72 if they didn't smoke, and at 64 if they did.

Women in the study had their first heart attack at age 81 if they didn't smoke, and at age 66 if they did.

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Four deny killing boxer in row over smoking ban  

A former British boxing champion was shot dead at a Fulham club after asking a group of men to stop smoking, the Old Bailey heard today.

James Oyebola, 46, was shot in the back of the neck and died in hospital without regaining consciousness, the jury was told.

One of his killers had smuggled a gun into Chateau 6 in Fulham Road by hiding it down his trousers, it was alleged.

Mr Oyebola, who won a bronze medal at the 1986 Commonwealth Games after losing to Lennox Lewis, was described as being "pleasant, calm and happy" before the shooting.

But witnesses said 6ft 9ins Mr Oyebola was surrounded by at least three men after asking clubbers not to smoke in the club's courtyard area. . . .

Another witness, Jermaine Ford, said Mr Oyebola had warned him not to smoke in the area and described him as being "perfectly polite", causing no offence. Mr Oyebola was a friend of the club owner and his son.

Four men deny murder in July last year - only three weeks after the introduction of the smoking ban.

Jeremy Donne, QC, prosecuting, told the court that all four knew a gun had been brought to the club and might be used. "The reason for the killing was particularly senseless - Mr Oyebola had become involved in a dispute over smoking inside the club," he said.

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• Bollywood stars to campaign against smoking: Ramadoss 

Leading film stars will be part of a massive national campaign against tobacco consumption, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said here Tuesday, also inviting superstar Shah Rukh Khan to be part of it. "Tobacco consumption in India has increased from 15 percent to 26 percent in recent times and 14 percent of the tobacco users are below 15 years. Large-scale use of tobacco, alcohol and drug are the most serious health-related issues plaguing the country today. We need to control it and for that harsh measures are the need of the hour," he said.

"Even Shah Rukh Khan is welcomed to be part of the anti-smoking awareness campaign, provided he quits smoking," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

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• London | Ex-boxer killed in 'smoking row' 

A former British boxing champion was murdered for asking a group of men to stop smoking, the Old Bailey has heard.

James Oyebola, 46, was shot in the neck and leg at Chateau 6 nightclub in Fulham, south-west London, in July last year. He died four days later.

He was a former British heavyweight boxing champion.

Kanyanta Mulenga, 23, Rene McKoy, 20, Cyle Carth, 18, and Dean Francis, 24, all from south-west London, all deny murder and affray.

The defendants were among 50 people at a party night at the club when the attack happened, jurors heard. . . .

Mr Oyebola was enjoying a quiet drink in a small courtyard known as the Garden Bar at the back of the building.

The garden space has a retracting roof and therefore it was an enclosed area and subject to the smoking ban, said Mr Donne.

"A number of witnesses who saw him assumed he was a bouncer, partly because of his size - 6ft 9in and powerfully built - and partly because he was asking people not to smoke in the garden area.

"He did so in a perfectly pleasant way and no-one took offence."

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BREAKENRIDGE: Crossing the line from anti-smoking to anti-smoker  

Anti-tobacco groups have been remarkably patient and persistent -- by taking it one battle at a time and never letting up, they've amassed quite an array of policy achievements. . . .

The Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta is calling on the provincial government to enact a further increase in tobacco taxes -- working out to about $2 per package of cigarettes. As we debate the merits of this proposal (so far, the government seems unconvinced) we should ask this question: Who are we protecting and what are we protecting them from? . . .

Also, an op-ed last year in the New Zealand Medical Journal observed that "smokers pay more in cigarette taxes than they ever cost the public purse."

On the consumption side, the case is more complex than the pro-tax increase side would admit.

There is conflicting research on just how price-sensitive teens are when it comes to tobacco. There are some groups of smokers -- including it would seem some sub-groups of teens -- who appear to be unaffected by price increases.

Research led by McMaster University health economist Philip DeCicca suggests peer pressure and peer acceptance may be more relevant factors for teen smokers. Moreover, DeCicca's research has found taxation has little impact on whether teens start smoking, leading him to conclude that "price hikes are not a very effective tool to discourage youth smoking."

At the risk of embracing the status quo, I would argue that tobacco taxes are high enough. When it comes to minors, let's focus on education and enforcement.

Children need protection -- informed, consenting (albeit unwise) adults do not.

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LETTER: Lowering tobacco taxes not a cure for contraband  

The reduction of tobacco taxes in the 1990s was disastrous to public health. The implementation of lower taxes slowed the rate of decline in the number of smokers by enticing more nonsmokers to take up smoking and leading fewer people to quit. Since 30 per cent of cancer deaths are caused by tobacco, clearly the slow-down had a tragic effect on cancer prevention.

Low tobacco taxes in Ontario have not curbed contraband. .. .

The Canadian Cancer Society has proposed effective solutions that would result in a reduction of contraband tobacco. For example, the government could make it illegal to supply raw materials such as filters to illegal manufacturers. Political pressure could also be applied on U. S. officials to shut down illegal cigarette manufacturing operations that are shipping illegal product into Canada. These and other solutions would protect public health by preventing the sale of cheap, illegal contraband tobacco.

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• Cigarette Mafia Exist in Iran As Well - Official  

Mahmud Abtahi, General Director of Iran Tobacco Company gives information about the cigarette mafia in Iran and interest of American producers to cooperate

- Does the general director of Iran tobacco company smoke?

- No, not at all. He is against smoking and strongly advises those who smoke to quit. Particularly ladies, who follow the new fashion of smoking recently.

- Then how do you fulfil your duties with this belief? Isn't there a contradiction?

- Iran Tobacco Company is a trading company with unlimited possibilities, a lot of money and production and employment opportunities. This is true that I am not a smoker and I am against smoking, but I have the responsibility of developing this company. So I differentiate my personal opinion and professional duties. I know that development of tobacco industry is to the benefit of Iran and can bring a lot of economic-export opportunities to the country. . . .

. In 2005 about 10.9 billion cigarettes were smuggled. In 2006 it decreased to 8.5. For 2008 we have planned to bring it down to 3.73 billion.

- What policies were implemented?

- Iran Tobacco Company is following Majlis decision to make the cigarette import tax lower to bring it in to the legal realm. . . . .

- When we speak of cigarette mafia, we should know that it's a world mafia linked to capitalists and Zionists. The world economy knows three spheres where dirty money exists. First is narcotics, second is weapons and the third is cigarette. This mafia is a world network that does any unclean thing to sell cigarette and get the market. It does not have a conscious. Sure, they also exist in Iran.

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LETTER: DISTASIO: Time to collect unpaid state cigarette taxes 

Governor Paterson is absolutely right — New York state must face budget issues head-on and address the growing fiscal crisis with courage. To us, "courage" includes collecting taxes on tobacco products sold by Native American retailers.

Because higher prices discourage consumption, Big Tobacco's grip on as many as 100,000 nicotine addicts would go up in smoke if consumers had to pay the taxes due on their cigarettes.

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Clinical Trials Update: Sept. 2, 2008 

COPD

If you are aged 40 to 80, a cigarette smoking history of 10 pack-years, and a diagnosis of stable moderate-to-severe COPD, you may qualify for this study.

The research site is in DeLand, Fla.

More information

Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat44.html.

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