Tobacco.org

• Smoking ban outside schools mooted 

A proposal to reduce the number of school smoking areas in the hope of curbing the number of young smokers has been snuffed out (Photo: Kyle Wheeler)

Local Government Denmark seeks extension on smoking ban as part of 500 million kroner health investment

Smoking anywhere near educational institutions could be a thing of the past if Local Government Denmark (LGD) has its way.

The umbrella organisation for local councils nationwide has developed a preventative proposal, based on National Board of Health recommendations, to improve policies on smoking, drinking and health. . . .

The Danish Union of Teachers is backing the smoking ban extension.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• Law to combat smoking awaits Cabinet approval 

A new law to combat smoking in public and workplaces has been drafted and is awaiting Cabinet approval. Those smoking in public places will be fined SR200.

Suleiman Al-Sabi, secretary-general of the Charitable Society to Combat Smoking, urged those affected by smokers at work and public places to take legal action against them, demanding compensation.

"Parents should file lawsuits against teachers who smoke in schools as well as against traders who sell cigarettes to their children," he said.

He said the new law, which will be effective a year after its publication in the official gazette, was prepared by the committee of experts at the Council of Ministers.

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• Teachers reject smoking bans in school 

A proposal to ban smoking on Victorian school grounds would limit the potential fundraising activities of schools, the education union says.

The Victorian government is considering a reform package as part of a new tobacco control strategy that would ban smoking, including by staff and parents, on school grounds, in addition to existing laws against smoking inside school buildings.

Under current laws smoking is still allowed by parents picking up children, staff on school grounds or at school community events.

Australian Education Union (AEU) state president Mary Bluett said there was little reason to change the law.

"Overwhelmingly schools are smoke-free. People who need to smoke go off school grounds out of sight of students. They're very aware of their role model status," Ms Bluett said.

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• Smoking ban ensures a healthy Games 

the city's municipal government is also making efforts to ensure a healthy Games by prohibiting smoking in public areas.

The regulation was enacted to meet requirements from the World Health Organization (WHO).

In a 2004 meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, former WHO Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook said it was his hope that all athletes and spectators coming to the Beijing Games have a smoke-free environment at the competition venues.

Premier Wen agreed, noting that a smoking-free Olympic Games is in line with the Olympic spirit, and would further enhance tobacco control in Beijing.

Health authorities in Beijing banned smoking in public areas beginning on May 1. . . .

To meet the regulation, a total of 6,700 no smoking signs were place at all Olympic sports venues.

To create a smoke-free dining environment, the Beijing Health Bureau and other organizations issued a regulation requiring no-smoking areas in the city's 40,000 restaurants in February 2007. . . .

Another no-smoking campaign requires medical organizations to take the lead to turn hospitals into a no-smoking environment, then promote the initiative to all of society.

The Beijing Health Bureau has formulated six standards for smoke-free hospitals. . . .

From April to June in 2008, a total of 165 reports on smoking control appeared in the news media.

Posters to promote tobacco control were placed in many communities in Beijing. . . .

The Beijing Health Bureau has also strengthened cooperation with WHO and other international organizations to enhance the tobacco control task in the city.

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• All N.C. school districts now 100 percent tobacco-free  

All of North Carolina's school districts now have 100 percent tobacco-free policies, according to the state's Health and Wellness Trust Fund.

The group, which had run a campaign to see the policies enacted, said in a media statement that such policies prohibit tobacco use on school property and at school-related events.

Several school districts in the state started enacting policies in the 1990s, but the movement gained more momentum earlier this decade.

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• PUPILS AGE 12 GET NICOTINE PATCHES 

Kids as young as 12 are getting nicotine patches through school in a bid to stop them smoking.

Schools are signing up to a Government campaign to tackle worrying levels of addiction in youngsters.

But trying to stop pupils wrecking their health is proving controversial.

Some parents are angry at what they see as teachers interfering in their role - and at children being treated with an addictive drug.

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• N.C. public schools going tobacco-free 

All of North Carolina's public schools will be tobacco-free by the end of this week, the culmination of a six-year effort by health advocates in the most tobacco-friendly of states.

Each of the state's 115 school systems will have a policy banning smoking and all other tobacco use - by anyone, at any time, anywhere on campus or at off-campus school events such as field trips and football games. . . .

The final holdouts did so this month to comply with state law requiring action by Aug. 1, making North Carolina one of only a handful of states where all public schools will be tobacco-free.

"North Carolina, being a tobacco state, is a beacon on this subject," said Joel Spivak of the Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

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• Last of N.C. schools adopt no tobacco policies 

The last handful of North Carolina's school districts have adopted broad no-smoking policies in recent weeks - falling in line with the rest of the state's school systems in a move that supporters see as proof the state is shedding some of its loyalty to tobacco.

Now all 115 North Carolina school districts have adopted anti-tobacco policies which stretch beyond school grounds to off-campus events. School districts had until Aug. 1 to adopt policies that forbid smoking and tobacco use by students, teachers, family members and visitors. That means coaches will no longer be able to smoke at games and schools no longer can have designated smoking areas for faculty members.

"Adults, especially on school grounds, are seen as role models for young people, and so it was important for adults to be role models for young people throughout the school day," said Mark Ezzell, director of the state's Tobacco-Free Schools Program which helped school districts craft their plans.

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• Cigarette kiosks throng Mumbai's smoke-free zones 

There are more than 5 million child smokers in India of whom 55,000 children use tobacco daily and the reason are cigarette vending shops which are flourishing right outside schools and colleges, blatantly flouting law.

A student, Ashish (name changed to conceal identity) says, "Outside our college there is a cigarette shop which tempts us to smoke."

However, law prohibits sale of tobacco within 100 yards of educational institutions. It also prohiits advertisements of tobacco products as is clear under the Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution Act 2003.

A survey by Mumbai's Cancer Patients Aid Association claims that among children smokers, 60 per cent are boys and 47 per cent girls. For most of these children, the habbit started at the age of 14 years.

College authorities in Mumbai meanwhile, lay the blame the BMC's apathy towards implementing the law.

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• Clearing the Air 

They'd probably claim that smoke got in their eyes, disabling them from seeing posters and flyers that ban smoking in public places, in accordance with the provisions of R.A. 9211, the Philippine Tobacco Regulations Act. But smokers should know that the no-smoking rule has been in place since July 1, 2007 and covers elevators, stairwells, hospitals, airports, ship terminals, train stations, public untility vehicles and restaurants all over the country.

Schools have been particularly stern in implementing the ban, aware that students have become the new target of cigarette companies because youngsters often equate worldly sophistication with a smoke.

At the Mapua I.T Center Inc. in Makati City, Neil Edwin V. Yuzon of the Center for Student Activities and Discipline, reveals that Makati has banned smoking in all places and utility vehicles since 2002.

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• New alcohol, drug, tobacco rules oversee student activities 

JUNEAU — Students will have to abide by new rules regarding drug, alcohol and tobacco use if they want to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities next fall.

Schools had been developing their own guidelines until now, but the Alaska School Activities Association board of directors this week adopted a statewide policy that includes penalties that are cumulative and grow progressively harsher with each violation.

More than 70 percent of the 40,000 students in Alaska participate in some kind of extracurricular activity, said Gary Matthews, ASAA executive director.

“We have something that kids want to do and that’s to be able to play. In order to be able to play we hold them to higher standards now,” . . .

The penalties range from a 10-day suspension from activities for a first offense . . . If a student is caught using tobacco during the suspension, the clock starts over. The student must complete the 10 days no matter how many times the suspension is restarted.

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• China Extends Smoking Ban to Campuses 

China will ban smoking on school campuses as part of an effort to cut down on tobacco use before the Olympics, state media said Wednesday.

The Health Ministry will ban smoking on all school premises - kindergartens through high school - beginning on World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the Beijing Evening News said. . . .

The Health Department will also work with other departments to crack down on illegal tobacco advertising, especially ads that target young smokers.

In China almost 2 trillion cigarettes are sold every year.

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• 30% teachers chew gutkha, smoke 

The Union health ministry’s Global School Personnel Survey 2006 has found that teachers, who are actually expected to deter students from taking up smoking, are themselves tobacco addicts.

The survey conducted with technical assistance from Centre for Disease Control, Atlanta, and World Health Organisation among 3,629 teachers from 180 schools says 3 out of 10 school personnel (29.2%) use tobacco products — cigarettes, beedis and gutka. While over 50% of the teachers and clerks from schools in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura were found to use tobacco products, the number stood at almost 40% of teachers from Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal.

What’s worse, one-fourth (25.1%) of the school personnel reported smoking or chewing tobacco on the school premises.

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