Tobacco.org

VIDEO: Danvers tries to ban sidewalk, street smoking 

Smoking has already been banned at Danvers High School, and now, there’s a push to stop people from smoking on nearby streets and sidewalks.

The School Committee voted this week to prohibit students from smoking during school hours on streets and sidewalks within sight of the Cabot Road high school, according to the office of the superintendent.

The move comes in response to what Principal Murray said was a growing number of complaints from area residents about students who get together to smoke at the corner of Cabot Road and Exeter Street, which is right across from the school’s front entrance.

The school's superintendent’s office says students caught smoking within sight of the school could face a three-day suspension and a $100 fine.

Jump to full article »

Contraband smokes lure Ottawa students: study 

Teenagers in the nation's capital continue to smoke a significant number of contraband cigarettes, a new study suggests.

The study, commissioned by the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco, found that 23 per cent of cigarette butts collected from around 11 high schools in Ottawa were illegal cigarettes.

"Kids, who shouldn't be smoking at all, are having no trouble getting their hands on illegal cigarettes that cost pennies apiece," Gary Grant, spokesman for the group and retired Toronto police officer, said in Ottawa.

"For the third year running, this study shows that youth are a primary target of the thugs at the end of the contraband tobacco distribution chain. Governments need to take meaningful action now by banning youth possession of tobacco," he added.

"If it's illegal for someone under 19 to have a beer, the same or stricter rules should apply for cigarettes. It's just common sense."

Founded by the Canadian Convenience Stores Association, the coalition is trying to stop the sale of illegal cigarettes in Canada. It says the percentage of illegal cigarette butts collected from Ottawa high schools this year is the same as last year when it conducted a similar study.

Jump to full article »

• Study of cigarette butts from around schools shows Ottawa area teens getting hooked on illegal cigarettes 

A new study commissioned by the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco (NCACT) confirms that teen smokers are getting hooked on contraband cigarettes in significant numbers. These cheap and easy to get illegal cigarettes are being smuggled and sold throughout Canada in record numbers and quietly undermining government anti-smoking programs.

"Kids, who shouldn't be smoking at all, are having no trouble getting their hands on illegal cigarettes that cost pennies a piece. For a third year running, this study shows that youth are a primary target of the thugs at the end of the contraband tobacco distribution chain," said Gary Grant, spokesperson for the NCACT and retired Staff Superintendent of the Toronto Police Service. "Government needs to take meaningful action now by banning youth possession of tobacco. If it's illegal for someone under 19 to have a beer, the same or stricter rules should apply for cigarettes - it's just common sense."

While youth smoking rates continue to hover at all-time lows, this new research shows the use of unregulated and untaxed contraband tobacco cigarettes are gaining ground among kids.

Jump to full article »

EHS students push for no smoking policy 

“We’ve had games we’ve gone to and as you’re coming off the sideline, you walk into a cloud of smoke,” she said.

Dickerson said it was one of the reasons she and fellow EHS students are starting an anti-smoking campaign that will include an appeal to the Eudora USD 491 Board of Education to ban smoking on all district property. The campaign will start with the posting of signs asking people to abstain from smoking at Friday’s football game.

The students — Dickerson, Bria Carder, sophomore, Cecilia Lehman, junior, and Dalton Hladky, senior — were organized by Eudora USD 491 prevention specialist Chrissy Mayer, who is employed by the district as part of the federal Safe Schools/Healthy Students Grant awarded the district last year.

The group is called Teen Teams Talking Tobacco, or T4, and it recently received a grant of $1,250 from the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition to implement youth activities targeted for tobacco use prevention in Eudora.

Jump to full article »

Students’ request for smoking band (sic) deserves board's support 

Nervous parents needing the help of a steadying habit at the half time of a close game probably won't agree, but we support the efforts of a number of Eudora High School students to ban smoking on all school district property.

There are smokers who will see this as an unwelcome intrusion into their private affairs and just another example of a campaign to ostracize tobacco users. What, they would argue, is the harm of stepping outside during a break in a basketball game for a cigarette.

There is little chance anyone but fellow smokers would be affected by second-hand smoke (the same can not be said of those who smoke within the Laws Field confines during sporting events there).

We would counter that schools are for teaching. And adults taking a quick opportunity to grab a cigarette provide a very poor example

Jump to full article »

Smoking ban set  

A new tobacco policy has been created by the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. for spectators at athletic events and all football games, including those involving Mater Dei and Memorial.

The tobacco use policy expands the ban on all forms of tobacco on all district grounds. This prohibits smoking and other tobacco use not only at athletic events but in parking lots and the land surrounding EVSC sports venues.

Jump to full article »

ABC official says smoking not its issue 

The head of the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration doesn't want his agency wedged into the ongoing battle between Tri-State Racetrack and the Kanawha County health board.

Anita Ray, county health director, recently sent a letter to the alcohol control agency stating she would contact the agency if the racetrack defied the countywide smoking ban, an insinuation that the liquor agency should revoke Tri-State's liquor license.

In Tri-State's defense, Dan Adkins, vice president of Hartman & Tyner Inc., which owns the racetrack, shot off a letter to the liquor agency this week contending that the health board withheld several important facts in its letter.

Alcohol Beverage Control Commissioner Dallas Staples said the smoking ban issue isn't on his agency's radar.

"I don't want the agency to be used as a threatening tool," Staples said. "We're going to operate as we normally do.

Jump to full article »

LETTER: Make anti-smoking messages part of kids' school curriculum 

I AM writing in response to the report, 'Wanted: Your views on smoking laws' (my paper, Aug 3).

While I applaud the authorities for coming up with proposals to curb smoking, I feel that more could be done.

If the maximum limits on tar and nicotine in cigarettes are lowered, this might encourage people to smoke, as cigarettes could be seen as less harmful. . . . more needs to be done in schools to discourage smoking among students.

Perhaps the Ministry of Education could start educating children from a young age about the dangers of smoking.

Getting the message to them early would definitely go a long way towards discouraging them from picking up smoking.

Implementing the proposals would not stop smokers from lighting up.

Jump to full article »

Forced to smoke 42 cigarettes by hostel warden 

LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA: As punishment for being caught with a cigarette and a lighter in his locker, a Form Four student of SMK Langkawi, Pulau Tuba, was forced to smoke 42 cigarettes by the hostel warden.

Mohd Alif Arifin, 16, said his punishment was witnessed by other teachers and students.

"It went on for more than two hours. I was forced to smoke four cigarettes at a time until I finished 42 cigarettes." . . .

His aunt Faridah Mat Zain said: "The school told me he wasn't feeling well. He was coughing continuously and he was very quiet. But two days later, I noticed his lips were swollen and got him to tell me what happened. He couldn't eat for five days."

He was taken to a clinic which referred him to Langkawi Hospital, she said.

Jump to full article »

Student Made To Smoke 42 Cigarettes: Malaysian Schoolboy Given Punishment By English Teacher  

A Malaysian schoolboy was forced to smoke 42 cigarettes in two hours by his English teacher after she found a cigarette in his locker, a newspaper has reported.

Others watched on as the 'model' schoolboy was forced to smoke for two hours

The punishment dished out to 16-year-old Mohd Alif Arifin left him unable to eat for nearly a week because he kept coughing and had swollen lips, the boy's aunt told the New Straits Times.

Fourth form student Alif, who claimed he knew nothing of the cigarette in his locker, told the paper: "It went on for more than two hours.

"I was forced to smoke four cigarettes at a time until I finished 42 cigarettes."

Jump to full article »

PEMBERTON: Schools have started 'treating' smokers without involving parents 

Last week, it was reported that a 14-year-old boy in the West Midlands was admitted to hospital after overdosing on nicotine chewing gum, which a fellow pupil had been given by counsellors at school. He had chewed 45 sticks - a total of 90mg of nicotine or the equivalent of 180 Marlboro Lights - in 25 minutes. Sandwell Council's Drug Education, Counselling and Confidential Advice (DECCA) service have been giving out up to a week's supply - 105 pieces - to children at the school over the age of 12 who are known to be smoking.

I have several issues with this. Firstly, it doesn't seem right that what - in essence - constitutes a medication, is being given out to school children so freely and in such large quantities by people who are not doctors. The irony is that any of my patients - all of whom are adults - who want to give up smoking while they are in-patients have to be seen by a doctor and have nicotine replacement gum or patches prescribed on their drug chart and given to them each time by a nurse, even if they've previously bought it over the counter.

But I also have reservations about not telling parents that their child is being given this medication. . . .

As the parent, while the school might have a case to answer, I'd want to use this as a salutary lesson for my child about the consequences of their actions. Instead, the authority of the school is undermined and the boy is seen as the victim. It's this attitude that has caused the proliferation of the 'elf and safety brigade whereby everyone is to blame except the individual, and why teachers find it so difficult to enforce discipline.

Jump to full article »

• Boy, 14, collapses after chewing nicotine gum equivalent to 180 cigarettes in just 25 minutes... handed out at school  

A boy of 14 collapsed after chewing 45 sticks of nicotine gum - equivalent to 180 Marlboro Light cigarettes - in just 25 minutes.

Aiden Williams overdosed on the Nicorette gum, designed to help smokers quit the habit, after it was handed out by counsellors at his school.

The teenager's mother yesterday hit out at the school, which allows children as young as 12 to be given up to a week's supply - 105 pieces - without parental consent.

Jump to full article »

‘Stub out tobacco products near educational institutions’ 

The Karnataka High Court on Monday directed the State Government to implement anti-tobacco laws relating to distribution and sale of tobacco and tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutions and curbing sale of cigarettes and tobacco to minors.

The court also directed the authorities to issue directions to all educational institutions to adhere to provision of Section 6 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 more popularly known as COTPA. This Act regulates sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to minors.

Section 6 of the Act clearly mandates that no cigarettes or tobacco products shall be sold to any person under 18 years in an area within 100 yards of an educational institution.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran and Justice V.G. Sabhahit passed the order on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition by Cancer Patients Aid Association seeking implementation of Section 6 of the Act to check growing use of tobacco by the younger generation.

Jump to full article »

Smoking just got more expensive 

On June 24, the School Committee took a definitive step in banning smoking on school property. Violation of the ban could bring heavy fines, as high as $300 for both students and faculty members of Tewksbury Public Schools for subsequent offenses. The town is looking to create a policy that serves as a deterrent for members of the school community and to create a healthier school.

Tewksbury is looking into installing tamper-proof smoke detectors in all student bathrooms. The town would also like to rehire a second hall monitor, with both of them supervising the hallways and parking lots.

The policy is a bold move in curtailing smoking on school property. Each offense will bring harsher punishments. For example, if a student violates the policy three times, it would result in a four-day suspension, a $100 fine, mandatory participation in a smoking cessation program, and a student-parent meeting with an administrator.

Jump to full article »

Minister calls on parents and schools to redouble efforts in preventing consequences of smoking 

Asmara, 11 July 2009 - The Minister of Education, Mr. Semere Russom, stressed the need for making concerted action on the part of schools and parents in raising the awareness of students as regards the dangerous consequences of smoking and tobacco. He made the remarks at the national workshop that was held here in the capital from July 9 to 10 under the theme: “ Smoking-free Educational Environment in Eritrea.”

Mr. Semere noted the significance of holding such a workshop in gathering objective information regarding smoking in the country’s population in general and students in particular. Indicating that students and youths are the primary victims of smoking cigarette, he stated that dire consequence of smoking is escalating as a result of the continuous publicity being made by cigarette-producing institutions

Jump to full article »