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• 16th Asian Games to be tobacco-free 

The 16th Asian Games, part of the worldwide Olympic movement and governed by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), will be “going smokeless” with firm prohibitions on the sale of tobacco products and tobacco sponsorship of the Games.

The Asian Games are the second largest sports event in the world after the Summer Olympic Games.

Governed by the Olympic Council of Asia, the 16th Asian Games follows all mandates of the International Olympic Committee in which Games’ organizers are prohibited from accepting sponsorship of the Games by tobacco manufactures.

Organizers are also prohibited from allowing the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products at any athletic venue.

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• Now Showing | Smoking in the Dressing Room  

Photos by Susanna Howe

The tobacco-stained past, on display at Bird in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

In the wake of our recent mayoral election, let’s take a moment to remember New York before Bloomberg cleared the air in bars, clubs and restaurants by banning smoking. Sales of Febreze aren’t the only thing that plummeted in the city: according to the photographer Susanna Howe, no one wants to be pictured smoking anymore. “Even those people who you wouldn't think would be all squeamish about it dash to put the cigarette out when you raise the camera to your face,” she said.

And so she rushed to document her friends and favorite subjects before they quit. “Smokers,” an exhibition and video installation at Bird in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is a stylish, funny, even sexy look at the remaining few who aren’t waiting to exhale, such as the artist Phil Frost. Be sure to try something on in the V.I.P. dressing room, where Howe has created a video that goes as well with Margiela as it does with A.P.C.

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• Five nonsmokers’ paradises: a guide for globe-trotters  

The world's biggest tobacco-consuming countries that I profiled in my last post, including Greece, Russia and Austria, are also among the top travel spots, but the opposite isn't quite the case.

Countries with the lowest reported adult smokers, as you'll notice in the list below, don't all provide dream vacations. . . .

1. Ethiopia: This very well might be the first time that this landlocked African country was listed at the top of a travel guide. Just 4.3% of Ethiopians are tobacco users. . . .

2. Ghana: Adult tobacco use in this African country is at 5.5%. . . .

3. Republic of Congo: . . .

4. Nigeria: . . .

5. Cameroon: Nigeria's neighbor to the east has a similar proportion of smokers, at 7.4%.

If you'd prefer a trip outside of Africa, the United Arab Emirates is at No. 22 and Fiji is at No. 23 on the list.. Further down the list, Ecuador is at No. 28, Egypt at No. 33 and the Dominican Republic at No. 35.

Between Egypt and Ecuador is Jamaica

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• VIDEO: Homebuyers face questions on alcohol and smoking under new mortgage rules  

Homebuyers could be forced to provide detailed information about the amount of money they spend on alcohol each month to qualify for a new mortgage under a new clampdown on reckless lending.

In a sweeping review of the mortgage market published today, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said lenders needed to be far more rigorous about their financial checks of potential borrowers.

It said lenders should delve deeper into homebuyers' personal spending including the amount they spend on alcohol and tobacco. . . .

The new measures, which aim to stamp out risky lending that has been criticised for compounding the financial crisis and tipping hundreds of thousands of homebuyers into negative equity, also include a plan to ban self-certified mortgages, dubbed "liar's loans", and to stop lenders from exploiting consumers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments.

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• ‘Land of the Lost’ Haunts Universal in Unexpected Way  

"Land of the Lost" is the gift that just keeps on taking for Universal Pictures.

The American Medical Association Alliance, a volunteer arm of the powerful health organization that focuses on family issues, on Friday released its scorecard for the depiction of smoking in mass-appeal summer movies. Universal was the biggest offender because of "Land of the Lost," the big-budget failure that helped cost the co-chairmen of the studio their jobs this month.

The alliance said it counted 18 shots of Will Ferrell smoking a pipe in the movie, resulting in about 124 million tobacco impressions. (The industry generally calculates an "impression" by multiplying the number of incidences by the film's total gross, then dividing by the average ticket price.)

" 'Land of the Lost' wasn't just a flop at the box office, it was also a real loser for public health," said Nancy Kyler, president of the American Medical Association Alliance.

The group did not name the second- and third-place offenders. A Universal spokeswoman declined to comment.

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• Audio slideshow: Created by Mad Men 

Cigarette vending machines should be banned and shops in England, Wales and Northern Ireland should keep stocks out of sight, MPs say. Similar plans are being discussed in Scotland.

But there was a time when there were very few restrictions on tobacco promotion. Larry Viner, of the Advertising Archives, takes a look at the ingenious, and not so truthful, ways the ad agencies tried to sell cigarettes in the past.

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• Dog gets ill from smoking aunts in ABC's 'Middle' 

One of this year's top comedy's finally has a pet -- and boy, does she have troubles.

ABC's Middle (Wednesday nights at 8:30 ET) has introduced a Basset Hound who developed emphysema after years of living with two chain-smoking elderly aunts.

Frankie, the mom stuck in the "middle" of all the family disasters, takes Doris to her house for a smoke-free environment. Then what? Watch and find out.

Meanwhile, we checked to see if there have been studies done to determine if and how secondhand smoke harms cats and dogs. It doesn't take a health expert to understand the answer is yes.

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• Five Questions About ‘The Last Smoker in America’  

Yes, disgruntled smokers, there is a new musical for you.

“The Last Smoker in America” is making its premiere as a full stage production on Monday at the 45th Street Theater as part of the New York Musical Theater Festival.

The show's book and lyrics are by Bill Russell, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his book of the 1997 musical “Side Show,” and the composer Peter Melnick (“Adrift in Macao”), a grandson of Richard Rodgers.

During a break in rehearsals, Mr. Russell shared his thoughts on smoking in the 21st century, his passion for outsiders and the legacy of “Side Show.” Following are excerpts from his conversation. . . .

What’s ironic is that the theater we’re performing in used to be called the No Smoking Playhouse, at least 20 years ago. I remember that vividly.

Q.

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• in Memoriam / Patricia Henley: Won Landmark Judgments Against Tobacco Companies 

Patricia’s gumption, and her desire to do the right thing, would carry her into battle against a huge corporation she knew had lied to her—and which was lying to and recklessly endangering all of our children. When her legal battle ended, she directed a portion of the monetary gain to the Patricia Henley Foundation supporting opportunities for children in the performing arts.

When Patricia was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in 1997, and given four months to live, she researched and discovered thousands of documents from the tobacco industry indicating that they lied about the additives in cigarettes, and the dangers of these ingredients to their customers. Her response to those who had trouble reconciling her righteous wrath with her lifetime of smoking was to point out the unethical marketing to teens. . ..

successfully sued Phillip Morris and the jury awarded her $51 million. It was, at that time, the first award in an anti-tobacco case in California, and the first case in the United States where punitive damages were upheld against a tobacco company. Appeals, over seven years, reduced the award to $10.5 million.

The Patricia Henley Foundation was finally funded in Santa Barbara in 2005 after the State Supreme Court refused to lower the judgment another time. Patricia, defying the medical professionals’ estimates of her longevity, focused the foundation on the mission on “inspiring the voice of youth through creative arts.”

The result was the Theatre of Life for Children (TLC), whose production of “A Tribute to the Musical” sold out three shows at The Marjorie Luke Theatre. . . .

Patricia never told anyone to stop smoking but only to make informed decisions. She described for performing cast members how her voice descended from soprano to lower-than-alto as a result of smoking. She was scheduled to cut a country western CD called Hard Lovin’ Lady (a title she gave herself after three marriages). But her voice had become so raspy that her guitarist joked, “I don’t think they make music in your key.”

In her opening statement during the trial, Patricia’s attorney Madelyn Chamber held up a pack of cigarettes and told the jury, “This is a case about a pack of lies.” . . .

Their high-powered attorneys’ attempts to confuse the issues didn’t sway one juror from finding the Phillip Morris executives guilty. . . .

It sent shock waves around the world when Patricia won this historic lawsuit. “HENLEY IS A HERO,” shouted a headline in a French newspaper. Patricia appeared on 20/20 and was featured in People and Forbes magazines. After her victory, she didn’t stop; she diligently wrote letters to corporations such as Disney to ask them to make Disneyland and Disney World smoke-free.

Fall of 2008 brought an end to the remission of the cancer that was supposed to have taken Patricia a decade earlier. She held on, with her usual courage, until July 31, 2009.

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• Tobacco warning from 17th Century 

Doctors in the 17th Century were worried about the dangers of young people smoking, a recently unearthed letter has revealed.

The letter, written in 1606 by Dr Eleazar Duncon, said tobacco was "hurtful" to the nation's youth.

It was found by library staff at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE).

The Scottish Parliament will this week debate new proposals to curb tobacco and cigarette sales to youngsters.

Dr Duncon's letter reveals medical professionals were similarly concerned about the issue four centuries ago.

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[Tobacco] is so hurtful and dangerous to youth that it might have the pernicious nature expressed in the name, and that it were as well known by the name of Youths-bane as by the name of tobacco.
Recently-found letter by Dr Eleazar Duncon which was published in Scotland in 1606.

• Jaques Chirac may have cigarette habit erased 

Officially, Mr Chirac, 76, delayed the release of Mémoires – the much-awaited tome recounting his life from birth until 1995 – so he could re-read it one last time.

But Le Parisien claimed there were concerns the picture would break laws banning the "direct or indirect" promotion of tobacco and may have to be airbrushed.

The cover photo, featuring Mr Chirac in deep thought and thick glasses, was taken in 1976, some 12 years before he kicked the habit.

Mr Chirac is the latest in a string of celebrities to have their tobacco habit airbrushed out of photos or posters. . . .

Mr Chirac's publisher, Nil, denied any "censorship or self-censorship", insisting the release had been delayed as Mr Chirac was abroad on a visit to Africa, and the fuss was "absurd".

The newspaper Le Figaro remained dubious, saying it understood that a politician might no longer want to be associated with this "accursed object", but that it was "questionable to want to erase from the past anything that doesn't correspond to our contemporary values".

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• VIDEO: Leukemia, stem cell scientists, N.Y. mayor get Lasker Awards  

One of the most prestigious prizes in medicine is being awarded this year to scientists working on stem cells and leukemia — and to New York's mayor for his fight to cut tobacco use. The Lasker Awards, which are announced today, have been given since 1945. They recognize the contributions of scientists, physicians and public servants internationally working to cure, treat and prevent disease.

"It's right up there with the Nobel Prize," says Gary Sieck, a research director at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. "The people who get it are at the top." . . .

THE MARY WOODARD LASKER PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD

Michael Bloomberg, 67

Mayor of New York

* VIDEO INTERVIEW

Bloomberg is honored for his efforts to get people in New York to stop smoking and start eating better. His initiatives helped lead to a decline in tobacco use among New York teens, and a greater use of healthful ingredients by New York restaurants.

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• 'Ghost' star Patrick Swayze dies at 57 

Actor Patrick Swayze has died at the age of 57 after struggling with pancreatic cancer for almost two years, his publicist says. . . .

Swayze was also known for being a heavy smoker. In a January interview Patrick said one of the reasons that he would still continue to smoke was to lesson his daily battles.

"It's just I've been dealing with one thing as it comes at time, you know… in the… order that it's trying to kill me. Will stopping smoking now stop anything, change anything? No. But, when it looks like I may live longer than five minutes, I'll drop cigarettes like a hot potato," he told ABC on January 6, 2009.

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• Meet Your Neighbors: Glade Park woman not afraid to speak her mind 

A river brought Anne Landman to Grand Junction. . . .

Landman began working in 1996 for the American Lung Association.

That job heightened Landman's awareness of tobacco-caused diseases and she began noticing cigarette displays in stores — how they always seemed to be out of the line of sight of clerks, placed around the corner near the door and below counter level.

“I started asking clerks: ‘Do you lose merchandise off these displays?'” Landman said.

She said store clerks used words like “tons” and “gobs” to describe the amount of merchandise that was lost. However, they weren't allowed to move the tobacco products display, or they'd lose huge placement fees paid by the tobacco companies.

Clerks in stores all over Grand Junction — many near schools — told Landman that tobacco representatives came and monitored the placements.

A manager of one Stop N Save convenience store near a school in Clifton told Landman she was losing 300 packs a month. Store clerks told Landman it was mostly kids stealing the cigarettes. . . .

Companies were also required to reveal all their secret documents. Millions of pages of internal documents were scanned and placed on the Internet for public access.

In her spare time at home in Glade Park where she had a dial-up connection to the Internet, Landman began downloading tobacco industry documents.

“I was looking for something in the documents to substantiate what I found on the ground,” Landman said.

“I couldn't believe what I saw. I couldn't believe what I was reading. It was like a murder mystery novel with no ending. Confidential memos talked about strategies for undermining public health authorities.”

Landman gathered the information and began putting it on an Internet list serve (similar to an e-mail newsletter). She summarized documents and included excerpts. She began writing and publishing articles in medical and academic journals. . . .

One of her Grand Junction colleagues contacted CBS news in New York, who sent a four-person crew to Grand Junction to report on the tobacco displays and the placement fees for its “Eye on America” segment that was broadcast nationally April 12, 1999. Television stations around the country checked tobacco products displays in their own towns, and localized the issue to create their own segments.

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• No smoking, please: Bipasha  

Bipasha Basu is a health freak and is known to never smoke or drink, which explains her bootylicious body.

Now, she has refused to smoke a cigarette or even hold it for a scene in her forthcoming film, Pankh.

Our source said, “Sudipto Chattopadhyay, the director of the film, wanted Bipasha to smoke on screen for a vital sequence. However, Bipasha flatly refused as she does not encourage smoking and hates it. She was not in favour of the scene and if she smokes, it meant that she would be promoting smoking. After that, Sudipto even gave her the option of holding a cigarette, but she refused that as well. Sudipto understood her point of view and agreed to shoot the scene differently.”

Bipasha Basu confirms the story and maintains her anti-smoking stance.

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