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• Overview of Smoking Policies by Cruise Line 

Hardly any single topic in our cruise forums attracts more interest than one entitled "Smoking policies on Cruise Ships."

Smoking issues on cruise ships can get very heated, and rarely do you see the opposing sides reach a meaningful point of compromise. So when the cruise lines have to create smoking policies the challenge is to try to please both sides, smoking and non-smoking passengers, at the same time. Not an easy thing to do!

This article will focus on the smoking policies of some of the major U.S.-based cruise lines, and what you can expect will happen once you actually get onboard.

First of all, there is no entirely smoke-free cruise line serving the North American market. While most cruise ships are largely smoke-free, all the cruise lines provide at least some areas for cigarette smokers, and even for pipe and cigar smokers. However, even cruise lines owned by the same parent corporations are not created equal, and some of them are far more restrictive than others.

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• Tokyo train stations to ban smoking 

Train stations in the Tokyo area will ban smoking from April 1, in another dent to Japan's reputation as a smokers' paradise, the railway company said Friday.

The Japan Railway Co. said it would eliminate most designated smoking sections at 226 stations along 17 major lines in the Tokyo region. The company already prohibits smoking inside local trains.

"Smoking bans are becoming the health trend in Japan," a company spokesman said. "Our company is making an effort to entirely separate people who smoke and don't."

However, a few stations will retain smoking areas in small rooms enclosed by glass.

"We are not worried about the smoking rooms, because there wouldn't be second-hand smoke and it prevents smoke from getting to non-smokers who don't like it," the spokesman said.

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• JR firms divided over smoking policies  

Should smoking at railway stations be banned or should the separation of smoking and nonsmoking areas remain in place? Railway companies are split over what to do about passengers who smoke.

All private railways in the Tokyo metropolitan area have already imposed a total ban on smoking in station compounds.

East Japan Railway Co., for its part, has embarked on a plan to phase out smoking areas, having removed them at four stations, including those on the Yamanote Line platform at Shibuya Station.

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• FAA bans anti-smoking drug Chantix for pilots, air controllers  

The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday banned pilots and air traffic controllers from using a popular anti-smoking drug after a study found that it had apparently contributed to auto accidents and other problems that posed risks to both users and others.

The drug, marketed as Chantix, has been hailed as an innovative treatment to help smokers quit. But a study by a medical safety group -- also issued Wednesday -- linked it to a variety of unusual and serious side effects, including seizures and loss of consciousness, and prompted the FAA to act, agency spokesman Les Dorr said.

The aviation agency had approved the drug last summer, before federal safety regulators began investigating reports of serious psychiatric problems, including suicidal behavior, sharp shifts in mood and vivid nighttime episodes some patients call "Chantix dreams."

A new warning came from a report by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, based on an analysis of "adverse events" reported to the Food and Drug Administration.

"We have immediate safety concerns about the use of [Chantix] among persons operating aircraft, trains, buses and other vehicles, or in other settings where a lapse in alertness or motor control could lead to massive, serious injury," the study said.

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We have immediate safety concerns about the use of [Chantix] among persons operating aircraft, trains, buses and other vehicles, or in other settings where a lapse in alertness or motor control could lead to massive, serious injury.
Report by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, based on an analysis of "adverse events" of Chantix use reported to the FDA.

• Bulgaria tightens railway safety after train fire 

Bulgaria will ban smoking and flammable items on trains and upgrade emergency procedures after a fire swept through two sleeper carriages last week, killing nine people, the Transport minister said on Thursday.

The fire which began on Feb. 28 was the worst railway incident in Bulgaria since 1992. It has provoked debate about safety standards at state railway company BDZ and prompted calls for Transport Minister Petar Mutafchiev to resign.

Police are investigating the cause of the fire and prosecutors said they did not rule out anything.

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• Germany's Cigarette Clampdown Gets Underway 

German smokers will be forced to travel emission-free from this weekend as the government anti-smoking law takes effect in all trains, buses and taxis.

The new ban also extends to smoking in public places in railway stations and federal buildings. People here will still be able to light up in designated smoking rooms or designated areas in the larger stations.

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• Austria inches towards smoking ban 

The state-run railways OeBB announced on Friday that all its trains will be non-smoking from September 1 in order to step up its protection of non-smokers. Smoking bans were already in place in local trains, but following customer demand, the regulation was extended to all trains, OeBB head Martin Huber said.

Austria's Health Minister Andrea Kdolsky welcomed the decision. Following general European trends, she considers introducing smoking bans in restaurants and cafes by 2008.

As attempts to introduce a voluntary solution were not satisfactory, draft legislation was being prepared this autumn, Kdolsky said Wednesday evening.

Restaurants above a size of 75 square metres will be obliged to establish non-smoking sections.

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• Germany stamps out smoking on trains  

A total ban on smoking on trains and at more than 5,000 stations will come into effect in Germany on Saturday, state-run rail operator Deutsche Bahn announced on Thursday.

Under a law adopted in May, it will also be forbidden as from the weekend to light up in public buildings, while the legal age for buying cigarettes and smoking in public will be raised from 16 to 18.

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• Prostate cancer caused by diesel exhaust, tobacco smoke exposure, suit says 

A Union Pacific fireman and engineer claims his exposure to diesel exhaust and tobacco smoke caused him to develop prostate cancer.

Seeking in excess of $100,000 in damages, Walter H. Obermann filed a Federal Employers' Liability (FELA) suit in St. Clair County Circuit Courty Aug. 6.

Obermann also is seeking compensation under the Locomotive Boiler Inspection Act.

He claims that while employed from March 1971 through July 2005 his employer failed to provide him a safe place to work. Among other things, he claims Union Pacific failed to warn him of the hazardous nature of diesel exhaust and environmental tobacco smoke.

"(Union Pacific) failed to inspect its locomotives, cars, cabooses, appurtenances, and other equipment and buildings in order to determine their propensity for contamination by diesel exhaust and environmental tobacco smoke," the complaint states.

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• Judge declares mistrial in LIRR smoking case  

judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of a former Long Island Rail Road conductor who contends he developed cancer after years of walking through smoke-filled cars before smoking was banned on the trains in 1988.

U.S. District Court Judge Leonard D. Wexler granted a mistrial request by the plaintiff's lawyer, Diane Paolicelli, Wednesday morning, said Josiah Kharjie, Wexler's courtroom deputy.

Kharjie said he did not know the reason for the mistrial and Paolicelli declined to elaborate. An attorney for the railroad could not be immediately reached for comment. A new trial date has been scheduled for Jan. 7, Kharjie said.

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• Testimony starts in LIRR conductor's cancer suit  

Testimony began yesterday in a case brought by a former Long Island Rail Road conductor who claims he developed cancer after years of walking through smoke-filled cars to collect commuters' tickets before smoking was banned on the railroad in 1988.

"It made your clothes smell, it made your hair smell," said the plaintiff David Hepburn, 56, of Miller Place, from the witness stand at the federal courthouse in Central Islip. "It was so smoky you could hardly see through the car."

Although Hepburn's lawyer vowed in opening statements to establish a clear link between secondhand smoke and the head and neck cancer her client developed, John A. Bonventre, an attorney for the railroad, said there is no solid proof of a connection.

Bonventre also said the railroad was no different from public buildings all across the state during those years and banned smoking on its cars more than a year before New York State enacted such a ban. . . .

U.S. District Court Judge Leonard D. Wexler told the eight-member jury yesterday he expects the case to last nearly two weeks.

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• SRTC to ban sale of tobacco in buses  

IN A significant decision, the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) today decided to ban the sale of tobacco products including paan on the premises of its bus-stations as well as in buses.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting presided over by the additional managing director (AMD), DK Gupta. "We have decided to ban the sale of paan masala, paan, tobacco, biri, cigarette and similar other products within the campus of our bus stations," Gupta told HT. He said the decision had been taken with a view to keep the bus stations and buses clean.

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• Derbyshire | Train firm bans platform smoking 

A train firm will mark the start of the new year by introducing a blanket ban on smoking.

Midland Mainline said staff areas as well as platforms would be smoke-free from midnight on 31 December.

The operator, which runs trains from Sheffield to London through the East Midlands, banned smoking on its trains in 2002.

Midland Mainline managing director Garry Raven said he was "leading from the front" by quitting for good.

He said: "We will be providing support and advice for all staff who would like to use this as an opportunity to quit smoking.

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• Driver stopped train for cigarette break 

A Romanian train driver is facing disciplinary action after he stopped his train to get out for a cigarette.

He stopped in the middle of the countryside and he also allowed passengers to get off the train.

Smoking was recently banned on trains in Romania, reports the Evenimentul Zilei newspaper.

The incident happened on the Blue Arrow, supposedly the country's fastest and most modern train

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• Romania to ban smoking on trains 

The Romanian National Railway Company CFR Passengers will launch a campaign to combat consumption of tobacco products and ban smoking on trains, a news release said on Tuesday.

According to the release, provided by the Ministry of Transportation, Constructions and Tourism, the anti-smoking campaign organized by CFR Passengers will cover the entire railway network.

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