Tobacco.org

• Pricey fight over ban expected 

Backers of a statewide smoking ban say they expect to be outspent by opponents in what's expected to be a hard-fought campaign after deciding Thursday not to appeal a judge's ruling. The decision makes the prospect of a November vote more likely.

However, Attorney General Marty Jackley says he and Secretary of State Chris Nelson will meet today to discuss a possible appeal. A decision is likely within a week.

Jackley said the American Cancer Society's decision not to appeal "is certainly a consideration" as he and Nelson decide the state's course. . . .

If, as Don Rose suggests, the state follows the cancer society's lead and decides not to appeal, the 2010 referendum will follow. Opponents of the ban such as Rose say this is what they've wanted all along. Rose owns Shenanigan's Pub, is a district director of the Licensed Beverage Dealers of South Dakota and was a key organizer of the referendum petition drive that ended up before Trandahl after the Cancer Society challenged the validity of thousands of signatures.

"A vote of the people is what they should have done in the first place," Rose said.

"Our deal was we always wanted to be able to let the people vote," added Mark O'Neill, president of the Licensed Beverage Dealers of South Dakota.

Jump to full article »

• The science behind moving smoking bans outside  

Reflecting on the existing scientific research on second hand smoke exposure outdoors, William Saletan of Slate.com sifts through the most relevant points from two major studies on the subject (the 2006 California Air Resources Board study, and a 2007 study from Stanford). Among the findings: outdoors, second hand smoke levels vary widely and quickly, depend on the individual's distance from a smoker (farther than 6.5 feet or 2 meters, generally reduces exposure to "background" levels), are influenced by how confined the outdoor space is (if there are walls or fences), and the concentration of smokers in a given area. The data, Saletan concludes, point to the need for a measured approach for crafting policy to reduce second hand smoke exposure outdoors. He writes:

"If you want to argue for parkwide smoking bans based on asthma or on an analogy to noise pollution, go ahead and make that case. But let's not cloud that debate by invoking the general harm of secondhand smoke. Studies of secondhand smoke have indeed moved outdoors. Their findings support restrictions on lighting up within a few feet of other people. But they don't warrant more than that."

A new study published in the November issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene may contribute to the debate. Researchers from the University of Georgia measured second hand smoke exposure among people sitting in the outdoor areas of bars and restaurants where indoor smoking was banned in the city of Athens, Georgia. . . .

generally speaking, hanging out in an outdoor smoking area exposes you to less second hand smoke than being in an indoor, confined space with smokers, and the more space you have between yourself and smokers, the lower levels of exposure you will have. So, this particular study doesn't ring the death knell for outdoor smoking. But, the researchers point out, wielding the official trump card of the public health argument:

Although the increment in cotinine concentrations and, thus, the [second hand smoke] exposure levels were relatively low at the sites of interest, the current view is that there is no level of personal exposure to [second hand smoke] that can be regarded as safe. This study demonstrates the ongoing exposure of nonsmokers to [second hand smoke] outside restaurants and bars, and the limitations of indoor smoking bans alone in protecting the public from exposure to [second hand smoke] outside these establishments.

In other words, the movement to ban smoking in outdoor spaces is here to stay.

Jump to full article »

• American Cancer Society Won't Appeal Smoking Ban Ruling 

American Cancer Society South Dakota Government Relations Director Jennifer Stalley says, “It is appropriate that today, on the 34th annual American Cancer Society Great American Smoke Out—a day dedicated to helping smokers quit—the American Cancer Society, along with more than fifty diverse public health, business and medical groups, will begin in earnest our statewide effort to support the smoke free law on the November 2010 ballot and ensure that no one has to choose between their health and their job in our great state."

“We are confident that the vast majority of South Dakotans support this law and that by this time next year –the 35th annual Great American Smoke Out—South Dakota will be a smoke free state.”

Jump to full article »

• Cancer Society says it won't appeal smoking ban appeal decision 

Officials for the American Cancer Society in South Dakota say they won't appeal a court decision that will now send a smoking ban in South Dakota bars, restaurants, casinos and other businesses to the vote of the people in 2010.

The announcement by the Society's government relations director Jennifer Stally came on the 34th annaul American Cancer Society Great American Smoke Out Day. Stalley said in a news release that the Cancer Society "will begin in earnest our statewide effort to support the smoke free law on the November 2010 ballot and ensure that no one has to choose between their health and their job in our great state."

Jump to full article »

• University's smoke-free plan first in country 

The University of Auckland will become the country's first smoke-free university next year.

From January 1, smoking will be banned on all Auckland University campuses and outdoor spaces, including places previously designated as smoking areas.

In a revision of its smoke-free policy, the university decided the old policy was not combating risks to non-smokers from passive smoking.

Staff and students were asked for their views on three options - maintaining the status quo, banning smoking within 10m of buildings and facilities or total prohibition.

Seventy-five per cent of those who responded supported total prohibition

Jump to full article »

• University's smoke-free plan first in country 

The University of Auckland will become the country's first smoke-free university next year.

From January 1, smoking will be banned on all Auckland University campuses and outdoor spaces, including places previously designated as smoking areas.

In a revision of its smoke-free policy, the university decided the old policy was not combating risks to non-smokers from passive smoking.

Staff and students were asked for their views on three options - maintaining the status quo, banning smoking within 10m of buildings and facilities or total prohibition.

Seventy-five per cent of those who responded supported total prohibition

Jump to full article »

• Universities of Louisville, Kentucky smoking bans go into effect Thursday 

Starting Thursday, Kentucky’s two largest universities are declaring themselves smoke-free, drastically restricting cigarette smoking to create healthier campuses.

The University of Kentucky is banning all tobacco products anywhere on campus, while the University of Louisville is restricting smoking to designated outside areas, with plans for a complete campus ban by next November.

To kick off the ban, information and support booths will be set up in front of the Student Activity Center on the Belknap Campus and the Kornhauser Library on the Health Science Campus from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. And U of L is providing free nicotine patches or gum to students and employees who take part in smoking cessation classes.

Even so, some U of L students are complaining that those preparations have been too hurried, especially when compared with the 11 months of groundwork at UK.

Jump to full article »

• Study raises concerns about outdoor second-hand smoke 

Indoor smoking bans have forced smokers at bars and restaurants onto outdoor patios, but a new University of Georgia study in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that these outdoor smoking areas might be creating a new health hazard.

The study, thought to be the first to assess levels of a nicotine byproduct known as cotinine in nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke outdoors, found levels up to 162 percent greater than in the control group. The results appear in the November issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene.

"Indoor smoking bans have helped to create more of these outdoor environments where people are exposed to secondhand smoke," said study co-author Luke Naeher, associate professor in the UGA College of Public Health. "We know from our previous study that there are measurable airborne levels of secondhand smoke in these environments, and we know from this study that we can measure internal exposure.

"Secondhand smoke contains several known carcinogens and the current thinking is that there is no safe level of exposure," he added. "So the levels that we are seeing are a potential public health issue."

Athens-Clarke County, Ga., enacted an indoor smoking ban in 2005, providing Naeher and his colleagues and ideal environment for their study.

Jump to full article »

• Study raises concerns about outdoor second-hand smoke 

Indoor smoking bans have forced smokers at bars and restaurants onto outdoor patios, but a new University of Georgia study in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that these outdoor smoking areas might be creating a new health hazard.

The study, thought to be the first to assess levels of a nicotine byproduct known as cotinine in nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke outdoors, found levels up to 162 percent greater than in the control group. The results appear in the November issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene.

"Indoor smoking bans have helped to create more of these outdoor environments where people are exposed to secondhand smoke," said study co-author Luke Naeher, associate professor in the UGA College of Public Health. "We know from our previous study that there are measurable airborne levels of secondhand smoke in these environments, and we know from this study that we can measure internal exposure.

"Secondhand smoke contains several known carcinogens and the current thinking is that there is no safe level of exposure," he added. "So the levels that we are seeing are a potential public health issue."

Athens-Clarke County, Ga., enacted an indoor smoking ban in 2005, providing Naeher and his colleagues and ideal environment for their study.

Jump to full article »

• Smoking ban battle hits courtroom 

Whether the state took an improper route to nab the admitted smoking ban violator is just one of several arguments Des Moines County District Court Judge Mary Ann Brown will consider before ruling whether the smoking ban violates the U.S. and Iowa constitutions.

Though the hearing lasted just two hours Tuesday morning, with the arguments largely made up of the written briefs the attorneys previously submitted to the judge, the owner of Otis Campbell's Bar and Grill said he'd take what he could get.

"I'm grateful that it got this far now," Duncan said after the trial. "I believe in the system."

Brown asked few questions during the hearing but thanked the attorneys at the end of their arguments. She did not offer a time frame for making a decision but said it will be "as quickly as we can."

Jump to full article »

• NYC's First Non-Smoking Apt Building Set To Open  

So some apartment buildings are now banning smoking for new tenants. Existing tenants who smoke will be allowed to continue to puff away.

That's not the case with the new East Harlem building at 1510 Lexington Avenue, which will be the city's first completely non-smoking residence, where tenants won't even be allowed to walk outside and light up in the immediate perimeter of the building. Even the construction workers can't light up.

"We feel that you're impacting, in a rental, so many people around you that we would like to offer the public an opportunity to live in a smoke-free environment," said Kinne Yon of Kenbar Management, which runs the building that will house 298 units.

The family-owned company gave CBS 2 a tour of the building, still under construction. The East Harlem development features upscale apartments, with concierge service, a large gym, and gardens. Smoking will not be allowed anywhere on the property.

Jump to full article »

• Lights out! Smoking ban nears  

Starting in January, if you want to smoke a cigarette during a night on the town at any of Macon's eating and drinking establishments, you will have to drag your butts outside.

The state's smoking ban in bars and restaurants will go into effect on Jan. 2, 2010.

Becky Barr, health education program supervisor and environmental health supervisor Barry Patterson with the Macon County Public Health Center explained the new rules and how they will be enforced at the health board's Nov. 10 meeting.

Barr said one of the goals as they get closer to the enactment date of "North Carolina's Smoke-Free Restaurants and Bars Law" (House Bill 2) is to educate restaurant owners and the public about the legislation.

The gist of the law, which passed in May, is that all North Carolina restaurants and bars permitted to serve food and beverages must be smoke free come Jan. 2.

Jump to full article »

• Africa heading for 'smoking epidemic' 

Since the smoking ban in Kenya, people can only smoke in special zones

At Jeevanjee gardens in Nairobi, smokers gather during their lunch hour to read, chat and light up.

It is one of the few zones in the Kenyan capital where people can smoke in public, since the ban on smoking in public came into effect in 2007.

As he takes a puff, one of the young men describes his habit.

"I've been smoking for 40 years but I hate it," he says. . . .

Dr Twalib Ngoma, president of the African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), says that Africa is on the brink of a smoking epidemic.

"Africa is in the area of the pre-epidemic and so we should prevent the epidemic," he told the BBC World Service.

"We should not wait until there is an epidemic and then work on it. We should prevent the epidemic."

Tobacco-related cancer was one of the key topics discussed at a recent international cancer conference in Tanzania.

One of the reports presented there warns that African nations are set to undergo the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use among developing countries. . . .

"For the first time in history, we have the tools in hand to prevent a pandemic," says Dr Otis W Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

"Smoke-free public places are one example of a low-cost and extremely effective intervention that must be implemented now to protect health."

As well as Kenya, Niger also recently introduced a smoking ban in public places. . . .

"If a consumer is addicted to tobacco, then it is possible to put prices up and they will go without lunch."

But Mr Spielman says that he expects that over time, increasing advertising restrictions and bigger health warnings will come into place in African countries.

But in the meantime, as long as there are smokers who will sacrifice lunch for a packet of cigarettes, there will always be consumers.

Jump to full article »

For the first time in history, we have the tools in hand to prevent a pandemic.
Dr Otis W Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

• Smoke at home  

SMOKERS will only able to enjoy their cigarettes in the comfort of their own home.

This according to Minister of Health Jerry Narace during a press briefing to update the public about the amendment to the 2009 Tobacco Bill at the Ministry's Park Street head office in Port of Spain yesterday.

'People can smoke in their private residences if they wish to, except when the house is used for the purposes of manufacturing, distribution, or trade,' he said.

It will, however, still be an offence for any person to smoke or hold a lighted tobacco product in any enclosed public place such as public transportation terminals, workplaces, bars, restaurants, shopping malls, clubs, cinemas, and sports facilities or any enclosed workplace.

Jump to full article »

• Immigrants likelier to support smoking bans 

SMOKE-FREE ALLIES: The strongest American advocates for smoking bans in public venues are the newest Americans, one study said.

Immigrants and their children were most likely to approve of smoke-free spaces, according to an analysis of data from the U.S. Census' Current Population Survey from 1995-2002.

Over those years, 75.7 percent of foreign-born U.S. residents supported a smoking ban in at least four different types of public space, while 59.1 percent of U.S.-born Americans with U.S.-born parents did so. Of the total population, 61.6 percent said they would support a ban in at least four of the six public venues listed, which included bars, restaurants, offices, hospitals, and indoors sports venues and shopping malls.

Americans overall have become increasingly likely to support smoking bans in public places.

"It is surprising that most of the immigrants had stronger attitudes,"

Jump to full article »