Tobacco.org

• More kids smoking pot than tobacco  

Marijuana is being smoked regularly by more Lake County high school students than tobacco, according to a new in-depth study of five local school districts.

And among the districts surveyed, East Chicago students reported by far the highest rates of alcohol and marijuana usage, the study from the Lake County Drug Free Alliance found. . . .

The study was presented as an inaugural epidemiological profile of Lake County for the Drug Free Alliance. The alliance intends to use the study to help convince local organizations to focus their drug-prevention efforts in areas that need the most attention.

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• Anti-tobacco drive fails to impress smokers  

Smoking bans appear to have little impact on the number of smokers according to a survey by the Federal Health Office.

Despite moves by the federal and cantonal authorities to outlaw smoking in public buildings and restaurants nearly three out of ten respondents said they smoked.

The number of smokers remained unchanged compared with 2006, with 33 per cent of men and 24 per cent of women saying they were tobacco consumers.

However, the number of those wanting to kick the habit rose marginally to 54 per cent.

The survey – funded by a tobacco prevention fund and published on Monday - is based on 2,500 interviews.

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Restaurant smoking bans credited with deterring teens  

Restaurant smoking bans may be as powerful as peers or parents in the battle to keep teenagers from becoming smokers, a new study suggests.

Teenagers who lived in towns that adopted early bans on smoking in restaurants were 40 percent less likely to become smokers than their counterparts in towns with weaker restaurant smoking laws, Boston researchers report.

The study did not address how smoking bans discourage teenage smoking. But Dr. Michael Siegel of the Boston University School of Public Health said the findings bear out his hypothesis that if teens see fewer people smoking and conclude that smoking isn't socially acceptable, then they may be less likely to pick up the habit.

Writing in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, Siegel reported results from three waves of phone surveys in 301 Massachusetts towns starting in 2001. . . .

Since 2006, counseling and medications to help smokers quit have been covered by MassHealth, the state's Medicaid plan, and the benefit has been used by more than 10 percent of members, she said.

Public health efforts aimed at adolescents have been reinvigorated, including the launch of the84.org, a website with antismoking ads created by teenagers and named for the 84 percent of their peers who don't smoke.

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Opinion: An ordinance banning smoking in most public places 

An Ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Amarillo, Texas, repealing and replacing Title 8, Chapter 8-5, Article V of the Amarillo Municipal Code pertaining to smoking regulations by protecting the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in public places and places of employment, protecting the right of the public to breathe smoke-free air, providing for fines as penalties, providing a severability clause and provding an effective date.

Share your thoughts, and see what others are thinking!

WHEREAS, the City of Amarillo, Texas is a Home Rule municipality, duly organized under the laws of the State of Texas;

WHEREAS, the City of Amarillo, Texas possesses all of the rights, powers, and authorities possessed by a home rule municipality, including the authority to protect the health and welfare of the public;

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Today's Vote / Should smoking be allowed in prison? 

Today's Vote

Should smoking be allowed in prison?

69% Yes, in all areas

17% No, it poses a threat to the health of staff

14% Only in designated areas

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Physical Self-perception, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and Smoking Behavior (PDF) 

Objective: To examine the relationship of physical self-perceptions, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), and smoking status among college-age women. . . .

Results: BDD items, including fear of weight gain, social avoidance and comparison, along with perceptions of physical health and medical use, predicted smoking behavior.

Conclusions: Negative perceptions of physical health and 3 diagnostic components associated with BDD may moderate smoking cessation attempts and maintain smoking behavior among collegeage women.

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State poll shows Oregonians favor smoke-free policies  

A majority of Oregonians support smoke-free policies at most public places, according to statewide poll conducted in January by the Oregon Tobacco Prevention and Education Program.

Playgrounds, fairs and rodeos, and beaches, are among the places Oregonians think should be smoke-free. Sixty percent of those polled preferred banning smoking in privately owned cars when children are present.

The poll found that 89 percent of Oregonians think tobacco-prevention programs and plans to help people to quit smoking are important.

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• Survey: Smoking leaves bad impression 

Male smokers who think cigarettes make them more masculine may be disappointed as nearly 68 percent of people said in a survey that tobacco leaves nothing but a bad smell, China Youth Daily reported today.

About 67.7 percent of 5,482 respondents said in an online survey by the newspaper from April 22-24 that they felt male smokers smelled awkward while 39.8 percent considered them dirty, the Beijing-based newspaper said.

In contrast, less than 10 percent of respondents said cigarettes can make a man look more masculine and tough like characters in TV dramas and movies, the report said.

The act of lighting up also hurts the image of females as 73 percent agreed that women looked emaciated and perverted

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Ohio Voters Prefer Raising Tobacco Tax to Raiding Tobacco Endowment to Fund Stimulus 

As the Ohio legislature acts to abolish tobacco prevention in the state, a new survey released today shows that nearly two-thirds of Ohio voters support a 75-cent increase in the state cigarette tax, with even greater support for increasing the tax on other tobacco products, to help fund the proposed economic stimulus package and fully fund Ohio's tobacco prevention efforts. The poll also found that, by a nearly two to one margin, voters prefer paying for the stimulus package with a cigarette tax increase rather than by taking money from the Ohio tobacco prevention fund, as Governor Ted Strickland and legislative leaders have proposed.

The poll of 607 Ohio voters was released today by the American Heart Association, American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided funding for the survey.

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Public Demand More Government Action To Curb Smoking, UK 

The government will launch a public consultation next month on its plans to tighten legislation on the sale of tobacco - but new research reveals that people, including smokers, are already demanding more action.

A poll carried out for ASH revealed that:

- 76% of GB adults support a ban on smoking in cars carrying children under the age of 18, - 85% of adults in England and Wales want retailers who are convicted of selling tobacco illegally to children to be banned from selling tobacco products, and - 88% of adults in Scotland agree that businesses found to have sold or supplied tobacco to under-18s more than once should have their right to sell tobacco suspended.

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Ohio Voters Prefer Raising Tobacco Tax to Raiding Tobacco Endowment to Fund Stimulus  

As the Ohio legislature acts to abolish tobacco prevention in the state, a new survey released today shows that nearly two-thirds of Ohio voters support a 75-cent increase in the state cigarette tax, with even greater support for increasing the tax on other tobacco products, to help fund the proposed economic stimulus package and fully fund Ohio's tobacco prevention efforts. The poll also found that, by a nearly two to one margin, voters prefer paying for the stimulus package with a cigarette tax increase rather than by taking money from the Ohio tobacco prevention fund, as Governor Ted Strickland and legislative leaders have proposed.

The poll of 607 Ohio voters was released today by the American Heart Association, American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided funding for the survey. Key findings include:

* 65 percent of Ohio voters support a 75-cent increase in the state cigarette tax to fund the economic stimulus package and fully fund Ohio's tobacco prevention efforts.

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Girls binge on smokes, booze and drugs  

SMOKING, drinking and taking outlawed drugs are in decline in Australia - with the worrying exception of teenage girls.

The annual National Drug Strategy Household Survey raises concerns of a growing "ladette" culture in Australia that is putting girls at risk of long-term harm from binge drinking, tobacco addiction and Class A drugs.

The findings come from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, which surveys more than 20,000 people each year to gauge trends.

It found that use of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs had fallen between 2004 and 2007.

Smoking rates for all people older than 14 have continued to fall, with 19.4 per cent of the population now saying they smoked daily. . . .

Among 16- to 17-year-olds, girls were almost twice as likely to have a daily smoking habit as boys, with 7.1 per cent of females in that age group using cigarettes.

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• Majority Chinese applaud Beijing's smoking ban 

As high as 90 percent of the Chinese public applauded Beijing's smoking ban in public places, to take effect on May 1, however some are concerned if the ban can be implemented effectively, a survey has shown.

The survey by the China Youth Daily and sina.com.cn, covering 5,482 netizens, also revealed that 52 percent of the smoking population agreed with the ban while 37 percent opposed it.

A student smoker at Peking University said he was "certainly unhappy about the ban" but as the ban was to benefit others he would not strongly oppose it. . ..

The on-line survey showed half of the surveyed local residents know of the Beijing smoking ban, and less than 22 percent think it will be enforced effectively.

The survey showed that 90 percent of the respondents believed ubiquitous passive smoking would bring harm to non-smokers' health. More than 72 percent said smokers could well quit smoking after the ban was imposed next month.

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Racial Disparities In Smoking Cessation Treatment Revealed By Study 

A new study from the American Cancer Society finds black and Hispanic smokers are less likely than whites to receive and use smoking cessation advice and aids. The study, published in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, also finds men and those without a usual source of medical care were less likely to be screened for tobacco use and receive advice to quit.

Members of several racial and ethnic minority populations bear a disproportionate share of the adverse health consequences of tobacco use. There is strong evidence that interventions, ranging from a health care worker's brief advice to quit to extensive counseling and the use of pharmaceutical and behavioral adjuncts, can considerably improve cessation rates in smokers. Smoking is associated with socioeconomic disadvantage and is an important contributor to inequalities in health.

For their study, American Cancer Society researchers led by Vilma Cokkinides, Ph.D., analyzed survey results from 4756 smokers

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Australia's cocaine use up, smoking down  

AUSTRALIANS are smoking fewer cigarettes and less cannabis but using more cocaine, a report shows.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare survey found that from 2004 to 2007, the proportion of people aged 14 and more who smoked daily fell from 17.4 to 16.6 per cent. . . .

The report also raised concerns about girls' smoking habits - 16 to 17-year-old females were "almost twice as likely to be daily smokers (7.4 per cent) as their male counterparts (4.1 per cent), although both of these figures dropped by about half from the previous survey".

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