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Tobacco
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Child tobacco use fears
Children as young as 10 are putting themselves at risk of cancer and other health problems by chewing tobacco meant to be used in shisha pipes, a community leader claimed today.
Salim Mulla, chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, says he regularly sees young people chewing the fruit flavoured tobacco which is meant to be smoked through the pipes.
And today he called for more education and a clampdown on the sale of the tobacco to underage youngsters.
He said: ?There is a lot of this happening right across the North West.
?It is a major problem and there needs to be a clampdown by trading standards officers on the sale of this particular type of tobacco, particularly to underage people.
?I would say these kids are 12 or 10. They are definitely under 16.?
Mr Mulla, who is also a councillor in Blackburn, said he has seen youngsters buy other ingredients, such as sweets, from shops to mix the tobacco with.
Simple rhyme for Queen Alexandra Hospital no smoking sign
ANNE Jenner is hoping a simple rhyme will stop people lighting up outside the entrance of Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth.
The 53-year-old is the latest entrant in our poster competition, which aims to get smokers using designated shelters at the Cosham hospital.
And it?s something Anne, of St Mary?s Road, Portsmouth, feels passionate about.
. . .
For her design Anne has come up with the phrase ?congregating smokers equals patient chokers?.
?I?m not anti-smoking, but I don?t think it?s right people smoke outside the hospital building,? added Anne.
Indigestion drugs taken by millions linked to hip fractures: Common indiges...
Post-menopausal women who take drugs known as proton pump inhibitors are around 35 per cent per cent more likely to suffer a broken hip, research has suggested.
Millions of people take the drugs for heartburn, acid reflux, or peptic ulcers.
The longer the women took the drugs, the higher the risk of a fracture, as the research shows those taking them for six to eight years were 50 per cent more likely to suffer a broken hip.
. . .
"These findings further support the recent decision of the Food and Drug Administration to revise labelling of PPIs to incorporate concerns about a possible increase in risk of fractures with these drugs.
"Our data suggest the importance of carefully evaluating the need for long term, continuous use of PPIs, particularly among individuals with a history of smoking."
PPI heartburn drugs 'up hip fracture risk in smokers' : Fracture risk is hig...
?Heartburn pills taken by thousands of women ?raise risk of hip fractures by up to 50 per cent?,? the Daily Mail reported today. The headline is based on a large new study of drugs called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which are commonly used to treat heartburn, acid reflux and ulcers.
The study found that post-menopausal women who regularly took PPIs for at least two years were 35% more likely to suffer hip fracture than non-users, a figure that increases to 50% for women who were current or former smokers. However, although this increase in risk is large, the overall risk of fractures remains small. . . .
Conclusion
This large study had several strengths. Unlike some previous studies, it collected information on and took into account other key risk factors for fracture, including body weight, smoking, alcohol use and physical activity. It also looked at the women?s use of PPIs every two years (rather than just asking them once) and took into account variations in use during this time in their analysis.
However, as the authors note, it also had some limitations:
Quarter of Swindon smokers 'buy illegal cigarettes'
About a quarter of smokers in Swindon have purchased illicit tobacco in the last 12 months, according to a survey.
The town's trading standards officers say that the sale of counterfeit or smuggled cigarettes is a serious problem.
They are particularly urging people not to buy counterfeit cigarettes because of the health risk.
Chris Snowdon: plain packs nothing to do with health: Even advocates don't ex...
THE LAW TO MANDATE plain cigarette packaging passed through the Australian parliament last year to the delight of tobacco control groups and the fury of the tobacco industry.
The general public can be forgiven for being apathetic about a policy which had become a pitched battle between anti-smoking extremists and the cigarette companies. Plain packaging does not obviously victimise smokers in the same way that smoking bans and regressive taxes do, and although plain packaging is another unwelcome step towards 'denormalisation', they--like everybody else--have bigger worries.
For the anti-smokers, industry indignation is tantamount to proof that the policy will succeed in lowering the smoking rate. They are willfully missing the point. The tobacco industry is not a monolithic entity but a group of companies engaged in fierce competition.
Hands Off Our Packs off to a promising start: Several hundred supporters sign...
The Hands Off Our Packs petition against plain packaging got off to a great start this week with several hundred people signing up.
The petition was mentioned in The Times business section. It was also reported by several trade publications including Off Licence News, Retail Times, Packaging Gazette and Tobacco Journal International and You can read about us on Talking Retail and Politics.co.uk.
Elsewhere Spectator columnist and Telegraph blogger James Delingpole retweeted our tweet about the petition and there have been supportive comments on both Twitter and Facebook where Hands Off Our Packs has its own page.
Bloggers too have come out in support.
They include historian Chris Snowdon (who also blogged here on Monday) and the ever passionate Pat Nurse.
Popular libertarian blogger Dick Puddlecote also spoke out. . . .
Finally, we're delighted to report that the opposition - Plain Packs Protect - are following us on Twitter. This could get interesting!
Should cigarettes have plain packets? ($$): Yes, says Maura Gillespie of the ...
...sneaking a puff from a friend?s cigarette to make sure I looked ?cool?. I knew...traditional adverts have been banned, cigarette packs covered in attractive colours...design alone. The reality is that all cigarettes contain harmful toxins, tar and carbon...
Should cigarettes have plain packets?
Yes, says Maura Gillespie of the British Heart Foundation. No, says Simon Clark, director of Forest.
In a head-to-head debate in The Times, Clark disputed Gillespie's argument that branding on cigarette packs is an important factor in children taking up smoking.
Hockney hits back at "haters of tobacco"
Artist David Hockney, a member of Forest's Supporters Council, has criticised a leading anti-smoking activist who wants tobacco sold in plain packaging.
Writing to the Guardian in response to an interview with Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney, Hockney asked:
Why doesn't Mr Chapman debate with a good and satisfied customer of the tobacco companies (Plain packs will make smoking history, 25 January)? Someone who has seen what will replace it as a smoothing, calming contemplative helper. Someone whose friends died of alcohol consumption, not tobacco. Someone who has smoked for nearly as long as he has lived. Someone who knows about the fanatical attitude of haters of tobacco. Someone who is not so naive about advertising and packaging. . . .
Someone who is shocked by the growing conformity among people, and what that might mean for a reasonable free society. Someone who prefers the centre of Bohemia to Australian suburbia. Someone who knows we have to die.
Letters: CHAPMAN: David Hockney should stick to painting
The 85% of Australian suburban non-smoking philistines whose taxes helped assist in the 1999 $4.9m purchase of his A Bigger Grand Canyon for the National Gallery in Canberra will be devastated to know that David Hockney thinks they don't cut the mustard as Bohemians (Letters, 27 January). Hockney's unctuous spray about efforts to reduce tobacco-caused disease was painfully deep in personal rationalisation. Like some Russian roulette survivor convinced the game is safe and that it makes him all interesting and insightful, he apparently cannot see past his own longevity as evidence that the case against smoking is exaggerated.
Yes, we all die. But Richard Doll's 50-year British doctors cohort study showed half of long-term smokers die from a tobacco-caused disease, with those dying losing an average 12 years off normal life expectancy. Patrick Swayze (57), Nat King Cole (45), George Harrison (58), George VI (56), Betty Grable (56), Mary Wells (49), and Beach Boy Carl Wilson (51) were all lifetime smokers.
Many who die from smoking, like those with emphysema, live wretched lives for years with their lungs shredded.
Letters: HOCKNEY: The trouble with tobacco haters
Why doesn't Mr Chapman debate with a good and satisfied customer of the tobacco companies (Plain packs will make smoking history, 25 January)? Someone who has seen what will replace it as a smoothing, calming contemplative helper. Someone whose friends died of alcohol consumption, not tobacco. Someone who has smoked for nearly as long as he has lived. Someone who knows about the fanatical attitude of haters of tobacco. Someone who is not so naive about advertising and packaging.
Someone who has almost outlived a fanatical anti-smoking father. Someone who is fed up to the teeth with people who think they really know what health is. . . .
Someone who thinks laughter is good for you as it drains fear from the body. Someone who has something better to do than to try and control the quiet lives of others. Someone who knows we are all a bit different and is fed up with the growing regimentation of people. Someone who knows that smokers can live perfectly average-length lives but heavy drinkers rarely. Someone who is shocked by the growing conformity among people, and what that might mean for a reasonable free society. Someone who prefers the centre of Bohemia to Australian suburbia. Someone who knows we have to die.
Hockney hits back at "haters of tobacco"
Artist David Hockney, a member of Forest's Supporters Council, has criticised a leading anti-smoking activist who wants tobacco sold in plain packaging.
Writing to the Guardian in response to an interview with Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney, Hockney asked:
Why doesn't Mr Chapman debate with a good and satisfied customer of the tobacco companies (Plain packs will make smoking history, 25 January)? Someone who has seen what will replace it as a smoothing, calming contemplative helper. Someone whose friends died of alcohol consumption, not tobacco. Someone who has smoked for nearly as long as he has lived. Someone who knows about the fanatical attitude of haters of tobacco. Someone who is not so naive about advertising and packaging.
Parents invited to pledge to make their cars smoke-free for kids
The British Lung Foundation has launched an online pledge to encourage adults to commit to keeping their cars smoke-free when children are passengers.
Any adult, whether they are a smoker, ex-smoker or non smoker can make the pledge by visiting the BLF website and entering their details.
Clare Cox, Director of Communications at the British Lung Foundation, said:
"Children have sent a strong message to their parents that they no longer want to endure a smoky car ride. Parents can listen to their children's concerns and take this pledge to protect young lungs from the damage caused by cigarette fumes in the car."
'Toxic' risk of counterfeit cigarettes sold in Sussex: Ms Rudd said people w...
Counterfeit cigarettes being sold in Sussex contain abnormally high levels of cancer-causing chemicals, a BBC investigation has revealed.
BBC South East Today found some brands had eight times as much lead as normal cigarettes.
Hastings MP Amber Rudd said many people were not aware of the dangers posed by brands smuggled into the country.
A pro-smoking lobby group said the high level of taxation on legal cigarettes was driving the illegal trade
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