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Tobacco
and Cigarettes News Feed |
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CDC: Smoking in Movies Down, Further Restrictions Needed
Depictions of smoking in U.S. films decreased by half between 2005 and 2009, but more than 50 percent of PG-13 movies still show characters lighting up, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.
NIDA to Launch National Drug Facts Week
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) announced it is launching National Drug Facts Week, a new national awareness week designed to bring together teens and scientific experts to discuss the facts about drug abuse.
CASA Report Warns Parents about Nexus of Drugs and Gangs in Schools; Students...
American students are essentially split over the question of whether their school is 'drug free,' but students still cite drugs as a major problem facing people their age, according to a new survey of 12- to 17-year-olds from the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.
E-Cigarette Maker Halts Oregon Sales
A leading US manufacturer of e-cigarettes has agreed to halt sales in Oregon in response to a lawsuit.
SAMHSA Report Pinpoints Local Substance Use Problems Throughout U.S.
A new report shows that behavioral health problems affect every community throughout America - but in unique, and sometimes surprising ways. The report, based on a nationwide survey commissioned by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), offers detailed analyses of the substance use problems occurring within these smaller geographical areas.
Researchers Say Nicotine Craving May Be More Mental than Physical
Israeli researchers who studied nicotine craving among flight attendants concluded that the desire for a cigarette may have more to do with habit than addiction to nicotine.
Smoking Alters Hundreds of Genes, Study Finds
Smoking causes dangerous changes in literally hundreds of genes in the body, including those related to tumor growth, inflammatory disease and immune-system suppression, according to researchers from the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research.
U.S. Ban on Clove Cigarettes Draws International Scrutiny
U.S. lawmakers say they banned clove cigarettes because of their health risks and appeal to young smokers, but the World Trade Organization (WTO) is investigating whether the ban violated international free-trade agreements.
Snuff Sales, Price Hikes Bolster Tobacco Profits
Higher snuff sales, cost-cutting and price increases led the nation's biggest tobacco company, Altria Group Inc., to a 3.2-percent increase in second-quarter profits.
Skepticism Greets Industry Claims on Menthol Safety
U.S. tobacco companies have ramped up a campaign to keep menthol cigarettes on the market, but U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials are skeptical of claims that menthols are no more harmful than regular cigarettes and want to see more data from the industry.
Tobacco Ads in Stores Lure Teens, Should Be Banned: Researchers
Teens who regularly visit stores that display point-of-sale ads for tobacco products were twice as likely to try smoking -- a finding researchers said argues for a complete ban on such advertising.
Cigarette Vending Machines, Nearly Extinct, Set to Evolve
Old-school cigarette vending machines have nearly disappeared from New York City bars, but a new generation of modern machines may soon take their place.
Mass. Delays Antismoking Campaign Pending Outcome of NYC Case
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health won't proceed with requiring retailers to post graphic warning signs about smoking until an industry lawsuit against a similar campaign in New York City is resolved.
Addiction, Mental Illness Lead to Millions of ER Visits
Patients with addiction or mental-health related problems accounted for 12.5 percent of all hospital emergency-room visits by adults in 2007, according to a report from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
$21 Million Awarded to Fla. Smoker with COPD
Philip Morris USA was ordered by a Florida jury to pay $21 million in damages to a smoker with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Alice hopes to stub it out
Her decision came as new NHS statistics revealed that more than 3,550 Oxfordshire people successfully gave up smoking last year.
But the figure does not include the thousands of Oxfordshire people who decided to go it alone each year.
Mrs Churchill, 47, is one of them.
The grandmother-of-one has so far not used NHS help to give up smoking and has bought her own nicotine patches, inhalators and lozenges.
NHS Confederation Comments On Smoking Statistics
NHS Confederation deputy director of policy Jo Webber comments on the publication by annual smoking statistics from 2009/2010 the NHS Information Centre. She said: "These figures show that more people than ever before are giving up smoking and that the NHS is playing its part in helping them to kick the habit.
"The NHS needs to find between £15-20 billion in savings over the next four years but it is important that in doing so the real benefits of these kinds of public health services are not forgotten. In the long run encouraging smokers to quit saves the health service money as well as vastly improving the quality of life of the people involved."
1,000 People A Day Quit Smoking With NHS, UK
Action on Smoking & Health has welcomed today's announcement from the Department of Health that the NHS in England helped a record 374,000 smokers to quit smoking last year. The figure refers only to those who quit for at least 4 weeks using NHS services and does not include the millions of smokers who try to go it alone every year.
Martin Dockrell, Director of Policy & Research said:
"This just shows what you can do when you have a proper plan to help smokers quit. Smoking costs the NHS at least £2.7 billion a year and when you include disability benefits, absenteeism and other costs it mounts up to a colossal £13.74 billion, so the small investment from the government brings huge benefits to UK PLC. And of course this is the opposite of the Nanny State: these are people who really want to quit but they know they stand a much better chance of making their choice stick if they get professional help from the NHS."
GOMPERTZ: Tobacco advertising
Today's post contained this link to a story about tobacco firms using websites such as YouTube to sell their products, an accusation they deny. Having co-founded and published Shots, a publication about creativity in advertising, I was intrigued. . . .
There was a period, before the outright ban in 2002, when the rules for promoting smoking were tightened, stopping the advertiser from using the brand's name.
What followed was a series of posters for brands such as Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut that took poster advertising to a new artistic level. They were necessarily daring, brilliantly conceived, beautifully art directed and great to look at.
And as with all advertising, nobody had any idea whether or not they were successful (marketing boss: I know half my advertising works and the other half is a waste of money, I just don't know which is which).
It was the combination of the big money on offer from the tobacco companies and the censorship over using the brand's name that created the necessity that proved to be the mother of the ad agency's invention. And I imagine it is that same blend behind the current promotional activity undertaken to promote smoking. . . .
But what strikes me odd about all this, is that health campaigners have asked why alcohol hasn't been given the same treatment?
I would have thought the booze business fails on all the same points that led to the ban on tobacco advertising, while also succeeding in a similar way; by having made some very good ads.
North East Lincolnshire surge in underage tobacco sales: Trading standards of...
A sharp rise in illegal sales of alcohol and tobacco to children has been reported by trading standards officers in North East Lincolnshire.
Council officials said test purchases, in which youngsters are sent into shops, had shown a big increase in underage sales this year.
So far in 2010, 39% of shops had failed the test, compared to 8% in the whole of 2009, officials said.
The drop in 2009 was attributed to a clamp down by the council and police.
Huddersfield cafe owner faces fine for letting people smoke
A CAFE owner faces a large fine for allowing people to smoke on his premises.
Vajid Karim, who runs Mirage Cafe Lounge, in the former College Arms building on Queensgate, was found guilty at Huddersfield Magistrates' Court yesterday of breaching the smoking ban in December.
Karim, 24, of Arnold Street, Birkby, allowed customers to smoke shisha pipes at the bar, the court heard yesterday.
Shisha, a tobacco water pipe, is popular in Arab countries but can result in higher levels of carbon monoxide than cigarettes.
Kirklees Council environmental health officers, who searched the premises on December 11, last year, found pipes with burning coals on them.
The Mirage Cafe's Facebook page had openly flouted the smoking ban, which came into force three years ago, promising flavoured shisha, the usual soft drinks and milkshakes.
CHACKSFIELD: Passive smoking: Israel?s ticking time bomb: Removing the risks...
Once again my girlfriend returned depressed after an attempt to enjoy one of Tel Aviv?s excellent music venues with friends. This time she was out only 30 minutes. I leaned to kiss her hello but hesitated. Her beautiful, dark hair and warm skin smelled of tobacco smoke.
Tears in her eyes, she said she had had enough. . . .
It is, sadly, very clear nowadays that Israelis blatantly ignore, deny and trample on the anti-smoking legislation, and the authorities simply ignore it ? to the future cost of their citizens? health. . . .
A miracle ensued. Britain, Ireland and many European countries now have dance bars, raves and rock concerts which anyone can enjoy and come away with cleansmelling clothes and clear lungs. The streets no longer have cigarette butts strewn across them, and the air generally smells and feels cleaner. Britons actually seem to be taking pride in their environment.
The tobacco companies hated it but bowed to the inevitable and took their poison trade to developing places like Asia, Africa and the Far East.
A KEY part of the change was the willingness by politicians to take health-related research seriously and use strategies such as social marketing to really tackle the issue. This occurred once politicians began to realize the huge negative impact of smoking on public health and the economy.
. . .
A key approach to tackling smoking and passive smoking in Israel will be social marketing. This involves systematically applying the principles of marketing alongside other concepts and techniques to achieve changes in behavior.
Commercial marketing is different in that its aims are primarily financial, measured in terms of profits or shareholder value. Social marketing aims specifically to achieve improvement in the lives of people. It works by focusing on specific groups in context and delivering messages to help create lasting change.
This would have to be backed up with support to quit, and easy access to nicotine replacement methods.
Boys guilty of asylum seeker cigarette row death
Two boys aged 13 and 17 have been found guilty of killing an asylum seeker over a row over a cigarette in Newcastle.
Papa Mody Mbaye, 30, from Senegal, was found with massive head injuries in Hugh Gardens, Benwell, in February.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the victim, also known as Alioune Cisse, had been chased, punched and stamped on in a dispute over a cigarette.
. . .
The court heard that Mr Mbaye had approached the group, all of whom had been drinking, and asked for a cigarette.
His request was refused, there was an abusive exchange and he walked off.
Birkenhead woman urges smokers to kick the habit with Quit Stop Wirral
A WOMAN who thought she would never be able to quit smoking says her life has been transformed thanks to NHS Wirral's Quit Stop Wirral campaign.
Lisa Smith, a care assistant from Birkenhead, made a snap decision to kick the habit for good after catching sight of the scheme's mobile trailer in the town centre.
She said: "I've smoked for years and always wanted to quit.
"I had tried a few times but never managed it - I felt like I'd never be able to do it.
"But the support I've been given by Quit Stop Wirral is great. There's always someone at the end of the phone to give you support and I've been off the cigarettes for four weeks now."
Huntingdon cabbie fined £1,500 for smoking in taxi
A HUNTINGDON taxi driver has been fined more than £1,500 for smoking in his cab.
In the first prosecution of its kind since the smoking ban was introduced, Huntingdonshire District Council brought criminal proceedings against cabbie Simon Meeke.
Meeke, who works for well-known local firm Steve's Taxis, pleaded guilty to smoking in a smoke-free vehicle at Huntingdon Magistrates Court on Wednesday, August 11.
Finland Bans Tobacco Display In Europe's Toughest Tobacco Control Law
ASH congratulates the Finnish president who signed a new law putting tobacco displays out of sight in shops. Finland joins a growing number of countries including Ireland, Canada and Norway that have adopted the measure to protect young people from tobacco marketing. [1] In several jurisdictions, including Scotland and England, tobacco manufacturers have initiated legal challenges to defend this highly effective marketing asset. [2]
The Finnish law does not stop at ending tobacco displays: it also makes it an offence for under 18s to possess tobacco products. Buying cigarettes on behalf of a minor becomes an offence punishable by up to 6 months in prison.
Martin Dockrell, Director of policy and research at the health charity Action on Smoking & Health said:
"Across the UK those who make and sell cigarettes have been fighting tooth and nail to overturn this legislation but the tide is running against them. Laws for smokefree public places started in a few small jurisdictions and rapidly spread across the globe. We are seeing exactly the same process here, the only question is: Will the UK be one of the first major economies to implement a display ban or will it be the first to cave in to tobacco industry pressure and reverse a law that has already been passed by parliament?"
The effect of cigarette smoking on asthma control during exacerbations in pre...
During pregnancy, asthma exacerbations are more common and more severe in current smokers than never smokers. The risk of effects of maternal asthma on the fetus may be greater among smokers.
Smoking increases asthma attacks in pregnancy: The new smoking ban will creat...
Asthma exacerbations are more frequent and severe in asthmatic pregnant women who smoke than in their nonsmoking counterparts, research shows.
"Smoking and severe asthma exacerbations in pregnancy are risk factors for low birth weight babies," explain Peter Gibson (John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, Australia) and team in the journal Thorax.
But they add: "No studies have assessed the clinical implications of smoking on asthma exacerbations in pregnancy."
To address this, the researchers studied 80 pregnant women with asthma and 46 pregnant women without the condition (controls) who were aged 18-43 years. All the participants underwent comprehensive assessments at 18, 30, and 36 weeks gestation. . . .
The researchers found that women with asthma were more likely to be current smokers (35%) than those without the condition (15%).
In women with asthma, current (n=27) and former (n=27) smokers both experienced an average of 2.0 exacerbations during pregnancy compared with an average of 1.5 exacerbations among those who had never smoked (n=26).
Madonna shocks party guests with her smoking and drinking
She stunned drinkers by lighting up in a pub, and now Madonna has been spotted with a cigarette on a night out for her 52nd birthday.
The health-conscious star, who is in London shooting her new film W. E., was seen with a cigarette in one hand and a stiff drink in the other as she hosted a party at East London members' club Shoreditch House.
Brits Want Government To Prioritise Smoking Ban In Cars
The British public wants the government to take action to make healthier, according to a new report: 'Health Nudges: When the Public Wants Change and the Politicians Don't Know It', published by the Faculty of Public Health (FPH).
Rachael Jolley, report co-author and FPH's Head of Policy, said of the findings: "Polling results carried out for this report show that the British really care about the nation's health and want stronger government action when it comes to issues such as smoking, sport in schools and organ-donation. Personal responsibility is important, but the British public seems to be overwhelmingly of the opinion that government intervention has its part to play too."
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