Tobacco.org

LATHEN: Tobacco is NOT an equal opportunity addictor OR killer  

Tobacco related disparities are no accident. Armed with targeted marketing strategies, cigarettes and a whole line of addictive OTPs (other tobacco products), the tobacco industry’s tactics intentionally cause a higher burden on some populations than on others.

Smoking cigarettes leads to many health problems, including cancer, and many of us know one or more of these risks. But most people aren’t familiar with OTPs and the risks associated with using them. Packaged and flavored like candy, OTPs are noncigarette products that range from little cigars and Swisher Sweets to smokeless products like Orbs, which look like Tic Tacs. Cigarettes and OTPs are not marketed or taxed equally, resulting in many tobacco related disparities. . . .

Tax equity, as we call it, would tax OTPs at the equivalent of $2.52 per cigarette pack. If Wisconsin taxed all tobacco products the same it would make it harder for youth and low-income residents to purchase these addictive products, and it would generate tax dollars to help balance the state budget and supplement the TPCP budget.

Tobacco use goes beyond affecting the individual smokers. It affects communities in many ways, and some communities experience more adversity because of higher cigarette and OTP usage. As a community it is our responsibility to work towards reducing tobacco harm because tobacco companies certainly aren’t looking out for our health. Make a difference by writing to your legislatures today about how cigarettes and OTPs affect people in your community.

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AUDIO: WATER PIPE SMOKING 

At the European Society of Cardiology's meeting at the Saudi Heart Association's Annual Conference in Riyadh Professor Hani Najm suggested that water pipes are contributing to a time-bomb of heart disease in the Gulf States.

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Shisha will stay hot in UAE, taxed or not  

Summary

Despite plans in the pipeline to introduce a tax on tobacco that could push up prices of cigarettes and tobacco products by about 30 per cent, many smokers say that would have little effect on their smoking habits.

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Anti-smoking advocate calls for shisha lounge ban  

With Ottawa Public Health officials calling for a ban on smoking in parks, beaches and outdoor patios, some health campaigners are pushing for shisha lounges to be added to the list.

Ottawa boasts 19 shisha establishments where hookahs — the pipes used to smoke flavoured tobacco — are provided for public use.

Pippa Beck is a policy analyst at the Non-Smokers' Rights Association and she cites a number of concerns with the flavoured tobacco, including unreliable packaging, a lack of public awareness about what is actually being inhaled and its growing popularity among young people.

Beck said studies show water in a typical hookah pipe does not filter out carbon monoxide, small particles and other byproducts of combustion.

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Fears over youngsters chewing shisha tobacco in Blackburn 

YOUNGSTERS are putting their health at risk by chewing tobacco meant for shisha pipes, according to councillors.

Coun Salim Mulla said he had seen youths chewing the tobacco, which comes in a variety of fruit flavours and is often brightly coloured.

Dangers include a risk of posioning from colourings as well as permanent mouth sores and cancers.

The Blackburn with Darwen Council Forum meeting on Thursday had already heard the local authority was taking a hard line on the sale of illicit tobacco.

Echoing calls by Coun Roy Davies for a crackdown on people who buy tobacco for youngsters, Coun Mulla urged further action.

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Cigarettes' equivalency to a hookah session 

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT: Yee, who is running for state Senate, said smoking a hookah for an hour is as dangerous as smoking 100 or more cigarettes. She said, "One hour of hookah inhalation is equal to smoking 100 to 200 cigarettes in that hour."

ANALYSIS: Yee is the sponsor of House Bill 2034, which would make it illegal for minors to possess a water pipe, also known as a hookah. It's already illegal for minors to smoke tobacco, but Yee's bill would impose a $100 fine or 30 hours of community service on any minor found with a hookah. . . .

Studies by leading scientific health organizations, including the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, verify Yee's assertion that people smoking a hookah inhale far more smoke than they would smoking a cigarette. . . .

Bottom line: Several reports confirm that during one hour of hookah smoking, a person can inhale 100 to 200 times as much smoke as is contained in a single cigarette. While some have criticized these studies, they are still the most current and reputable resource on the subject.

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Secondhand smoke affecting nation's youth 

Sitting in a smoking cafe serving narguileh is as bad for your health as sitting in Beirut's famous Salim Slam Tunnel during rush-hour, new findings have shown.

Cancer-causing pollution levels inside one of Beirut's busiest passageways are roughly equal to those found in 15 of the capital's restaurants that sold water pipes, research conducted by the Health Ministry-affiliated National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) has revealed.

In both cases the concentration of ultra fine particles - deemed exceedingly dangerous because of their ability to penetrate deep into the lungs and reach the bloodstream - was deemed "hazardous" to health by World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

Levels in the tunnel proved to be almost 18 times higher than acceptable levels, while those in cafes were on average 15 times the levels considered safe for human health by the WHO. Almost half of the cafes surveyed, however, actually had higher levels than Salim Slam, with one being 25 times more polluted, the NTCP found.

"The difference between the two locations, is that in restaurants that serve narguileh, you sit for hours, while it takes less than a minute to pass through Salim Slem Tunnel - most of the time with the windows closed," the NTCP said.

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Officials mull zoning exceptions for Park Ridge hookah lounge  

The Park Ridge Planning and Zoning Commission could hear a proposal later this month for a hookah lounge looking to open in the city.

City Planner Jon Branham said a request for a text amendment allowing hookah establishments in the city could go before the commission for consideration at its Feb. 14 meeting. The business will also require approval of a special-use permit in order open.

The city’s Zoning Ordinance currently does not contain provisions for establishments that allow the smoking of hookah water pipes.

The hookah lounge is proposed for 114 Higgins Road. Plans call for it to sell tobacco products and allow customers to smoke hookah pipes inside, Branham said.

A statewide ban prohibits smoking in all public places. But “hookah bars” are exempt

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Smoke and dagger 

Last year another of Preston’s once-thriving pubs closed its doors for the final time.

At one time, The Fylde Tavern, on Fylde Road, at Ashton, was a busy community hub. It currently a stands derelict, empty shell. For sale signs litter the outside, windows have been smashed.

In its place, plans have been approved to open a shisha smoking cafe in the beer garden.

If it happens, it will be the fourth such venue to open in the city in recent years.

In a planning statement submitted to Preston Council last year, applicant Ismail Member said the facility would be a “positive attraction to the area”, adding that shisha smoking is an “important part of the culture and tradition of many residents in this part of Preston”.

Many people, it seems, would agree.

Shisha smoking in Preston is growing massively in popularity. As well as the three existing cafes, six separate applications have been received by council bosses in the past 12 months to open new ones.

Two were refused while another two were withdrawn.

But one of those – at the New Ship Inn, Watery Lane, Ashton – is now back on the table again.

And it is the increasing popularity of these venues which is worrying health chiefs.

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• Fears over youngsters chewing shisha tobacco in Blackburn  

YOUNGSTERS are putting their health at risk by chewing tobacco meant for shisha pipes, according to councillors.

Coun Salim Mulla said he had seen youths chewing the tobacco, which comes in a variety of fruit flavours and is often brightly coloured.

Dangers include a risk of posioning from colourings as well as perminent mouth sores and cancers.

The Blackburn with Darwen Council Forum meeting on Thursday had already heard the local authority was taking a hard line on the sale of illicit tobacco.

Echoing calls by Coun Roy Davies for a crackdown on people who buy tobacco for youngsters, Coun Mulla urged further action.

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Bill would make possession of hookah by minor illegal 

the Legislature may soon make hookahs, water pipes or any other item used for consuming tobacco illegal for minors as well.

House Bill 2034 proposes to make it a petty offense to sell or give such an item to a minor or for a minor to buy or possess such an item. The penalty for a minor would be a $100 fine or 30 hours of community service.

Bill sponsor Rep. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, said constituents asked her to propose the measure because of a growing concern with kids smoking hookahs at local cafes.

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Two Shisha cafe owners in Rusholme fined for allowing customers to smoke 

Two cafe owners have been fined for allowing customers to smoke shisha pipes.

Samir Merza, who runs Blue Mist, on Wilmslow Road, in Rusholme, was fined £200 with £500 costs after admitting two counts of allowing smoking in a smoke free place.

Lara Cafe Limited, the company that Blue Mist trades under, was fined a further £1,300 plus £711.71 costs after pleading guilty to the same offences. Manchester council wrote to the owners last summer warning them to stop all smoking inside the premises.

Environmental health and police officers visited the site twice in the following weeks and found customers smoking.

In another case heard by magistrates, Mathim Saleh, manager of Shotz, on the same road, was also fined £75 after pleading guilty to permitting smoking in a smoke free place.

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Bill to ban e-cigarettte, hookah use in public places put on hold pending clarifications  

Too many questions and concerns over a bill that would ban the smoking of e-cigarettes and hookah pipes in public places prompted a panel of lawmakers Monday to put the legislation on hold.

HB245, sponsored by Rep. Bradley Last, R-Hurricane, would amend the state's Indoor Clean Air Act to define the use electronic cigarettes and hookah pipes as smoking, therefore prohibiting their use in public places.

Public testimony before the House Government Operations Standing Committee was largely divided between the health risks of using e-cigarettes and hookah pipes and the rights of adults who are made aware of the risks to use the products.

But some lawmakers said they had reservations about a bill that would effectively put hookah bars out of business when the data over health risks is unclear. Representatives of the Huka Bar and Grill in Murray said the bill would put 90 people out of work.

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Health crackdown against Birmingham shisha bar danger 

A NEW crackdown against Birmingham's shisha bars is underway - with smokers unwittingly inhaling the equivalent of 100 cigarettes an hour.

Shisha pipes are deemed more harmful than cigarettes by health officials, despite myths they are safer.

On top of high tobacco levels, they can also contain lead, arsenic and carbon monoxide. The alert was triggered by reports that young Asian women were smoking shisha unaware of the harm they may be doing to their unborn child.

Dangerously high carbon monoxide readings - which can cause headaches, fainting and lack of oxygen to a foetus - were spotted in antenatal clinics across inner-city suburbs like Sparkbrook and Springfield. Now students and the Asian, Somalian and Iranian communities are being targeted in the new awareness drive.

Jacqui Kennedy, director of enforcement at Birmingham City Council, said: "Shisha is increasingly popular, predominantly in student areas because it is a social activity.

"It tastes sweet and a lot of people don't realise it contains tobacco but it can contain lead, arsenic, nicotine, heavy metals, carbon monoxide and cadmium. . . .

Shisha bars are covered by smoke free legislation, which bans smoking inside premises, but that has led to outside shelters on industrial estates and at the back of pubs and cafes.

Birmingham has 15 registered shisha premises - a five-fold increase since the smoking ban was introduced in 2007.

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• VIDEO: Legislature considers ban of hookah lounges, e-cigarettes 

Hookah lounges and e-cigarette users could soon be going up in smoke following a proposed bill to the Utah legislature. The proposed bill has already become an early controversy for legislators on the first day of session.

House bill 245 would amend the Utah Indoor Clear Air Act to include tobacco products used in hookah pipes and electronic cigarettes, banning the use of these products in a public environment.

Since the debate over indoor hookah smoking has heated up, business is down for smoke shops and hookah lounges in the state. Opponents to the bill say hookah tobacco and e- cigarettes do not produce harmful second-hand smoke.

"If I burn a cigarette here, you can smell it from there," said Haydar Altalibi. "If I smoke (from a hookah), you behind me can't smell it."

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Bradley Last, said the science about the tobacco products has not determined whether the products are safe to use or not. . . .

However, legislators say, where there is smoke, there is probably fire.

"I think this is one of those things where we have to say, someone is inhaling nicotine and they are blowing it out in the air, even though you can't see it," Rep. Last said. "Is that a health risk we want to consider from a policy perspective?"

The ingredients of hookah tobacco are different from traditional cigarettes, with 0 percent tar and less than half of a percent of nicotine. However, the determining factor will not be what is inside the product, but what is coming out of a users' lungs and into public air.

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