Tobacco.org

Winona State University to Ban Cigarette Smoking on Campus 

Winona State University will soon ban smoking, both indoors and outdoors, on its campus. Starting Jan. 12, no smoking or tobacco use of any kind is allowed within campus boundaries.

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Gender as a Moderator in the Association of Body Weight to Smoking and Mental Health  

Results. Relative to their healthy-weight counterparts, overweight or obese men were less likely to smoke, whereas overweight women were more likely to smoke. Mental health problems were not related to relative body weight among men. However, overweight or obese women were more likely than were their healthy-weight counterparts to have a negative self-assessment of mental health, and obese women were more likely to have a mental health problem. In addition, underweight women had increased odds of being a smoker and having mental health problems.

Conclusions. The results indicate that gender has a moderating role in the association between body weight and both smoking and mental health. Gender-specific analysis rather than adjustment for the impact of gender in analyses is a promising avenue for future research.

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St. Paul records lowest fire death rate in over 20 years 

The city of St. Paul says there was only one fire death recorded in 2008, the lowest rate in 22 years.

The fatality occurred on Aug. 10 when an 86-year-old woman died after smoking in bed.

City officials said that while even one fatality is too many, it is the lowest number of fire deaths in St. Paul since 1986.

"The widespread use and maintenance of smoke detectors has helped a lot . . .

Careless smoking is the lead cause of fatal fires in Minnesota. To address that serious problem, state legislature enacted a law requiring that all cigarettes sold in Minnesota be 'fire standard compliant.'

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1990s: 10 key events 

1998: LAWSUIT EXPOSES TRUTHS OF TOBACCO

It's only appropriate that Minnesota, the state that pioneered clean indoor air, was a leader in the landmark legal action that brought the tobacco industry to its knees. The state, along with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, reached a $6.1 billion settlement and that money has been used to gild attorneys' offices as well as pay for smoking cessation programs.

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Walgreens in Golden Valley gets provisional tobacco license 

After failing two tobacco compliance checks in 2008 and one in 2007, Walgreens in Golden Valley now has a provisional tobacco license.

The action followed a special Golden Valley City Council administrative hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

According to a memo to the council from Police Chief Stacy Altonen, a Golden Valley Police detective conducted a tobacco license compliance check with a 17-year-old checker in June 2007 at Walgreens, 5695 Duluth St.

The clerk working the checkout lane checked the ID of the underage checker, but sold cigarettes to the checker anyway, the memo stated.

In July this year, another tobacco license compliance check was conducted at Walgreens, with a 16-year-old checker.

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• ‘Light’ cigarette ruling will reignite Minnesota tobacco litigation  

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling breathed new life into at least three local cases against Big Tobacco that had been in danger of being snuffed out.

In a 5-4 ruling early last week, the nation’s highest court found that smokers are not barred by federal law from suing cigarette makers for deceiving them about the health risks from “light” cigarettes.

While Minnesota entered into a $6 billion settlement with cigarette manufacturers in 1998, the agreement only blocks state suits, not private litigation. The issue locally was whether federal cigarette labeling and advertising law pre-empted a fraud action brought under Minnesota law. A year ago, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled in Dahl, et al. v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al. that federal law did not shield tobacco companies from state-law fraud and misrepresentation claims over how they advertised “light” cigarettes. R.J. Reynolds sought review from the Minnesota Supreme Court, which stayed the case pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s resolution of the case decided last week.

The U.S. high court decision paves the way for the R.J. Reynolds case – and two other similar cases in Minnesota trial courts – to proceed to trial, according to Kay Nord Hunt, one of the attorneys representing the R.J. Reynolds plaintiffs on appeal.

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• Whose life is it anyway? Workers pay price for unhealthy ways 

As a chemist at 3M, she's had plenty of chances to join health and fitness programs on the job. But like many Minnesotans, she's simply chosen not to.

Now, that choice is starting to get costly.

At a growing number of workplaces, employees are paying a price for refusing to take part in wellness programs. Some face hundreds of dollars a year in higher costs for health insurance. Some are missing out on cash and gifts used to reward their colleagues -- not for their work, but for the way they eat, exercise and conduct their lives. . . .

"I think everyone is collectively beginning to understand that the 400-pound gorilla in the room is health and wellness," said Dr. Ted Loftness, a vice president at Medica Health Plans. "We can't dance around it anymore. We have to do something about it."

Experts say that upwards of 40 percent of U.S. medical costs are linked to obesity, smoking and other lifestyle factors -- a statistic not lost on the nation's employers. As a result, more than half of large corporations now use incentives to get employees to shape up, a 2008 survey found.

But in the process, employers are pushing the boundary between work life and private life.

At 3M, General Mills and many other Twin Cities worksites, employees can earn up to $100 in cash or shave hundreds of dollars off their health insurance if they (and sometimes their spouses) take a "health risk assessment" -- a detailed survey of their personal health habits.

Some companies are tying payments to medical test results.

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Teen smoking continues to decline 

State health officials say the rate of underage tobacco use continues to decline. The Minnesota Department of Health today announced results of the 2008 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey.

It showed that over the past three years, the number of middle school students who used tobacco products fell from 9.5 percent to just under 7 percent.

The rate of high school students using tobacco fell from around 29 to 27 percent.

Officials say the numbers mean that 12,000 fewer high school and middle school students are using tobacco today than in 2005.

Department researcher Pete Rode says a higher tobacco tax a few years ago and the state's new smoking ban have helped push teen smoking rates down.

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Mpls. man dies after cigarette starts apartment fire 

A 56-year-old man has died after a fire broke out in his Minneapolis apartment Wednesday morning. . . .

Investigators said the fire was likely started when a cigarette set a chair on fire, and have ruled the incident accidental.

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Careless smoking blamed for Minneapolis apartment fire 

Careless smoking is being blamed for an apartment fire this morning in south Minneapolis that injured a 56-year-old man, authorities said.

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Survey finds decline in teen smokers; state's ban, tax are working, officials say 

Smoking among Minnesota teenagers has declined for eight-straight years, according to the latest statewide survey, and the state's smoking ban appears to have had a profound impact on middle schoolers' attitudes toward tobacco.

That's the good news.

The state's survey of 12,000 students in sixth through ninth grade also showed some troubling trends that had health officials scratching their heads. For the first time since the state began tracking teen smoking rates in 2000, high school girls are smoking less than boys. The popularity of menthol cigarettes is up sharply. And doctors are not asking their teenage patients about tobacco use.

Overall, however, the trend has been relentlessly down. In the past eight years, smoking dropped by 63 percent among middle school students and 41 percent among high school students. Use of any tobacco product dropped by 45 percent among middle school students and 30 percent among high school students. Today, 85,000 teenagers are using tobacco, 12,000 fewer than three

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• Smoking rate ebbs, but boys keep puffing 

Minnesota high school girls aren't smoking as much, but a new 2008 state survey finds their male classmates haven't kicked the habit.

Only 19.1 percent of high-schoolers smoked cigarettes in the month before their surveys, down from 32.4 percent in 2000.

Similarly, only 3.4 percent of middle-schoolers reported smoking cigarettes in the previous 30 days, down from 9.1 in 2000.

Girls accounted for most of the recent decline, though. From 2005 to 2008, the rate of tobacco use dropped 31 percent among high school girls but not at all for boys.

Health officials were still pleased with the results. Smoke-free laws appear to be paying off

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2 dead in fires in Minneapolis, Redwood Falls 

The deaths of two people in unrelated residential fires are being blamed on careless smoking.

In Minneapolis, authorities say 89-year-old John J. Legierski called 911 about 1:20 a.m. Wednesday to report a fire. . . .

The arson squad says Legierski was seen smoking a cigar earlier that evening, and careless smoking may be the cause of the fire.

It's a similar story in Redwood Falls, where officials say emergency responders found 40-year-old Laurie Peppers inside a burning home about 7 p.m. Tuesday. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The Fire Marshal has issued a preliminary report indicating that careless smoking led to the ignition of an older sofa in the home.

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Minnesota slips in healthiest state rankings 

Minnesota dropped in part because per person public health spending fell from $62 to $45, or 43rd in the nation. Public health spending is included because research has shown it has a signficant effect on overall health. An investment of $10 per person per year in programs to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and prevent smoking would cut national health care costs by $16 billion annually within five years, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. That is a return of $5.60 for each dollar spent.

But the data used in the report may have put Minnesota at an unfair disadvantage. Magnan said this year the Legislature approved $47 million for public health programs to reduce smoking and obesity, money that was not included in the latest analysis, but which could improve Minnesota's ranking next year.

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Smoking likely led to deadly Mpls. house fire 

An 89-year-old Minneapolis man died early Wednesday morning after a large fire broke out in his home.

According to Minneapolis police, John Legierski called 911 to report the fire at his home at 4125 Portland Avenue South around 1 a.m. He talked with the dispatcher until he suddenly became unresponsive. . . .

Police believe the fire was a result of careless smoking. The man was seen smoking a cigar earlier in the night by his son.

"He was on the porch smoking a cigar and I'm sure he didn't put it out," Tom said.

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