Tobacco.org

A Network Method of Measuring Affiliation-Based Peer Influence: Assessing the Influences of Teammates’ Smoking on Adolescent Smoking  

Using a network analytic framework, this study introduces a new method to measure peer influence based on adolescents’ affiliations or 2-mode social network data. Exposure based on affiliations is referred to as the “affiliation exposure model.” This study demonstrates the methodology using data on young adolescent smoking being influenced by joint participation in school-based organized sports activities with smokers. The analytic sample consisted of 1,260 American adolescents from ages 10 to 13 in middle schools, and the results of the longitudinal regression analyses showed that adolescents were more likely to smoke as they were increasingly exposed to teammates who smoke. This study illustrates the importance of peer influence via affiliation through team sports.

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Playing school sports affects youths' smoking 

Young people's choices about using drugs and alcohol are influenced by peers--not only close friends, but also sports teammates. A new study of middle schoolers and their social networks has found that teammates' smoking plays a big role in youths' decisions about smoking, but adolescents who take part in a lot of sports smoke less.

The study was conducted at the University of Southern California (USC) and appears in the journal Child Development.

Researchers looked at 1,260 ethnically diverse, urban, middle-class sixth through eighth graders. They asked the students about their own smoking behavior, and they asked them to name friends at school as well as the organized sports they took part in at school. Then, using a social network method they developed, they examined how participation in sports with teammates who smoked affected adolescents' smoking behavior.

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• Alps Tour is first to ban smoking - Golf 

THE first smoking ban imposed on any professional or amateur golf circuit in the world has been enforced on the third-tier Alps Tour.

Before the circuit teed off its new season in Morocco yesterday, the organising committee announced it had banned smoking or chewing tobacco by players and caddies during any kind of play in its tournaments

Dedicated smoking areas have been created near practice areas to avoid seeing players with cigarettes on the practice greens or driving range.

“The Alps Tour committee has taken this courageous decision to uphold the reputation of the game of golf and the Alps Tour and to take care of the health of its young members,” said a statement.

“Golf will be an Olympic sport soon (in 2016) and the Alps Tour wants to become a role model. A breach of this rule will be a fine.”

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Playing Sports May Help Keep Kids From Smoking 

Middle-school kids who participate in lots of sports are less likely to start smoking than other kids, new research finds.

Yet, students with teammates who smoke are more likely to smoke, too. This apparent influence of peers is more pronounced among girls.

"This result suggests that peers on athletic teams influence the smoking behavior of others even though there might be a protective effect overall of increased participation in athletics on smoking," study leader Kayo Fujimoto, who conducted the research while at the University of Southern California, said in a journal news release.

The study, appearing Feb. 8 in Child Development, found that the more sports the kids played, the less likely they were to smoke.

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Cricket Australia pulls 'tobacco' ad 

Cricket Australia has pulled a mouth freshener advertisement amid complaints it promoted a company that also sells tobacco products.

It says it will withdraw the ads that were displayed on the boundary rope during seven matches between Australia and India after learning they could be promoting tobacco.

Spokesman Peter Young said Cricket Australia had sought a translation of the ads, which are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, from the Indian government and had been reassured that they promoted mouthwash.

But the majority of Indians who saw the ad would immediately associate it with tobacco, said Dr Nevin Wilson, who heads the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease's Southeast Asian office in New Delhi, India.

Dr Wilson said direct or indirect advertising of tobacco products was illegal in India, where there were 900,000 deaths each year related to tobacco.

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Cricket chiefs duped by smoking ads 

CRICKET Australia has banned an advertising campaign which appeared in the recent Test series against India after discovering they may have unknowingly been promoting a tobacco brand.

The sport's governing body faces losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue after pulling the ads from future one-day games.

The Health Department launched an investigation into the Hindi advertisements on the boundary rope for Australia-India Test matches in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide.

The ads for a company that makes chewing tobacco and mouthwash were aimed at the massive TV audience in India. They also featured at the twenty20 games in Sydney and Melbourne and were due to be shown during the on- going one-day internationals this month.

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Cricket Australia chiefs draw line on ads 

CRICKET Australia will surrender hundreds of thousands of dollars in boundary line advertising after it emerged it may have been illegally promoting tobacco.

The snap backdown last night came after the federal Health Department launched an investigation into advertisements in Hindi on the boundary rope for Australia-India Test matches in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

The ads for a company that makes chewing tobacco and mouth-wash were aimed at the massive TV audience in India.

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Cricket chiefs draw line on ads 

CRICKET Australia will surrender hundreds of thousands of dollars in boundary line advertising after it emerged it may have been illegally promoting tobacco.

The snap backdown last night came after the federal Health Department launched an investigation into advertisements in Hindi on the boundary rope for Australia-India Test matches in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

The ads for a company that makes chewing tobacco and mouth-wash were aimed at the massive TV audience in India.

They also featured at the Twenty20 games in Sydney and Melbourne and were due to be shown during a series of one-day internationals this month.

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• Cricket Australia in tobacco ad row 

Cricket Australia is facing fines of up to $66,000 for displaying ads in Hindi at the Test cricket series against India that may have been promoting tobacco.

News Ltd reports Cricket Australia has decided to pull the ads, surrendering hundreds of thousands of dollars in income.

The federal Health Department has launched an investigation into the ads in Hindi on the boundary rope for Australia-India Test matches in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

The ads were for a company that makes chewing tobacco and mouthwash and aimed at the massive TV audience in India.

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ROE: PGA Needs to Address Smoking and Marijuana Use by Players: A Fan's Perspective 

The PGA needs to change some of its rules during play. Sunday, during the WM Phoenix Open, Spencer Levin presented a good example of one rule that needs to go. While the tournament was hosting its annual green-out, Levin was contentedly puffing cigarettes and leaving the butts scattered around the course for someone else to clean up.

Every other sport has condemned the smoking habit. . . .

As long as it is allowed, smoking on the green will continue. The presiding authority, the PGA itself has to be the one to step forward and put a stop to it. The fans can complain, but as long as people like Levin can laugh it off, complaints do not mean a thing. Levin seemed immune from the criticism projected on him for his ugly habit. He even referred to the objectors as "you mean guys in the crowd".

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Levin (63) puffs his way to top 

Spencer Levin took one last drag on his cigarette, stamped it out in the rough and climbed into the bunker behind the 17th green. He set up quickly, took a quick glance at the hole and splashed out.

The ball landed about 10 feet from the hole, bounced twice and rolled into the cup for an eagle-2 that pushed him to 14-under par yesterday in the second round of the Phoenix Open at Scottsdale, Ariz. A few minutes - and another cigarette - later, he parred the 18th for an 8-under 63 and a three-stroke lead.

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General Cigar kicks off Super Bowl weekend in style  

General Cigar will be the toast of Indianapolis this weekend, with sampling events that are on par with the Big Game itself. In fact, two of the three events that General Cigar is participating in have been named to BleacherReport.com's highly-publicized ranking of the "10 Best Parties of Super Bowl Week."

According to Alan Willner, General Cigar's vice president of marketing said, "General Cigar has long been known for associating our brands with high profile events that elevate the cigar smoking occasion. This year, we'll once again be at the best parties leading up to the 'Big Game' to bring the ultimate cigar smoking experience to A-list athletes, celebrities and football enthusiasts."

Last night's Jaws Cigar Party was hosted by none other than Ron Jaworski at Nicky Blaine's cigar bar in downtown Indy. This fundraiser benefitted Ron's pet charities -- Jaws Youth Playbook Foundation and Gleaners Food Bank's BackSack program. . . .

Tonight (Friday, Feb. 3) is the SPP Sports Poker Tournament to be held at the Indianapolis Zoo. General Cigar will be on hand to sample Punch, Grand Puro and Grand Cru cigars to event hosts Devin Hester, LeSean McCoy. Other noteworthy names expected to attend are Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagement) and Quinton Aaron (The Blind Side) and a slew of NFL greats. Stay tuned for more info.

Saturday night is the big Rolling Stone party at the Crane Bay event center. To celebrate Bacardi's 150th anniversary, General Cigar has teamed up with the premier rum brand and will serve La Gloria Cubana and CAO La Traviata to a roster of A-list guests.

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BORDOW: Teenage tin men: Addictive smokeless tobacco making comeback 

Tobacco is addictive. So is idolatry.

What, then, must high school athletes think when they see major league baseball players using smokeless tobacco? . . .

"The thing that gets these kids is that they cannot realize it is an addiction," Garagiola said. "They think they're above it but what it does, it takes a grip on them.

"People will get mad at me for saying kids should sit out longer, but the underlying thought is not to win games but to save lives."

Baseball's ban on players carrying the tins in their back pocket is a good start. But it's not enough. As long as players have a wad between their cheek and gum, high school athletes will emulate them. That's why it's up to the coaches.

They shouldn't use the stuff -- "we have to be held to a higher standard," Holmes said -- or allow their kids to use, even during practices. If they do see an athlete dipping, they should contact his parents.

After all, tobacco is addictive. So is stupidity.

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Looking to bask in Super Bowl 2012, but not in clouds of smoke-filled air? 

But if you're hoping to avoid smoke, fear not. More and more bars, especially in Downtown Indy, have banished smoking on their own. At least four Downtown bars changed their policies in the last month. Smoke Free Indy, a group pushing local leaders to expand Indianapolis' smoke-free ordinance, today put out a guide listing 30 Downtown bars with air clear of cigarette smoke.

You can find several near Lucas Oil Stadium, on Massachusetts Avenue and in other areas. There's also a large selection of smoke-free bars outside Downtown, in neighborhoods such as Broad Ripple and Fountain Square. You can find some of those listed here.

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Coventry's Millennium Square smoke free for Olympic Games  

COVENTRY has decided to create a 'smoke-free square' for the duration of the Olympic Games this summer.

Last year the Telegraph exclusively revealed how city chiefs wanted to stop smoking in Millennium Place, where they hope families will gather to watch sport on the big screen.

However, it soon emerged the city council did not have the power to ban smoking in an outdoor area. So Coventry's Smokefree Alliance proposed a low cost campaign urging people not to light up in Millennium Place during the Games.

That has now been given the go ahead by Coventry City Council.

Coun Joe Clifford, the council's cabinet member for health and chairman of the Coventry Smokefree Alliance, has been a key supporter of the project and welcomed the news. The Olympics is synonymous with health, fitness and sporting excellence - everything that smoking is not," he said.

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