Tobacco.org

Enjoying sidewalk beer and pipe tobacco in Hanoi 

Locals do not know exactly why foreign tourists like visiting the old streets. Some say because they are located in the center of the city, some say because of the 18th and 19th century French architecture. However, there is more to it. Tourists can enjoy things that are available only there. Those things are sidewalk beer and pipe tobacco. The area is rather small but always jubilant as foreign tourists and sidewalk beer shops appear almost everywhere.

Sidewalk beer shops have no tables, just some small chairs for people to sit and place their mugs and enjoy a pipe of tobacco. The pipes, usually made of bamboo or clay, typically consist of a small chamber . . .

The buzz created by the harsh tobacco and the icy crisp beer more than offsets the cold of winter in Hanoi. Moreover, while enjoying beer and tobacco on the sidewalk, tourists can discover the daily life of the residents, busy and bustling. . . .

Hanoi is getting colder and colder as winter comes and this is an ideal time to enjoy sidewalk beer together with pipe tobacco. Why not take a tour of the ancient streets and experience these exotic flavors to remember Hanoi forever?

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• Hundreds fined for smoking in cars since new laws 

MORE than 400 people have been cautioned or fined for smoking in cars with children in South Australia since the controversial law was introduced.

The state led the nation by introducing a law prohibiting smoking in vehicles in the presence of people under 16 in May 2007, in a bid to protect children from passive smoking.

Since then, police have fined 317 people and cautioned 85.

Offenders can be issued with an on-the-spot fine of $75 and if it proceeds to court, the maximum penalty is $200.

A woman was recently convicted for the offence in NSW just three months after that state brought in the new laws.

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Ban on smoking in cars  

RESIDENTS will be hit with a $200 on the spot fine if they are caught smoking in a car that is carrying a child.

The new state law that bans smoking in a car that is carrying children under 16 will come into effect at the beginning of next year.

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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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• 10 smokers’ paradises: A guide for globe-trotters  

With so many places around the world instituting smoking regulations, increasing taxes and, quite literally, kicking smokers to the curb, it's getting harder to find cigarette-friendly vacation spots.

But not every country is trying to kill that buzz. On the flip side, some of them, such as Greece, are attempting to crack down but are failing miserably.

You may feel alone smoking in some major U.S. cities, so we've compiled a list of countries with the most prevalent tobacco use among people aged 15 or older, based on 2005 data from the World Health Organization.

Nonsmokers, too, will want to take note of the list. As you might guess, a smoker's paradise can be, in turn, a nonsmoker's hell.

1. Greece:

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• Queensland Car Smoking Ban 

Queensland has banned smoking in cars carrying children under the age of 16.

Deputy Premier and Health Minister Paul Lucas said the new laws would start from January next year and apply on all public roads.

"These new laws are about reducing the exposure children have to tobacco smoke," Mr Lucas said in a statement on Thursday.

The legislation was passed in Queensland parliament yesterday as part of measures contained in the Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2009.

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EDITORIAL: Turning smoking into a crime 

It's an odd world we live in: Ontario inmates now have more rights than truckers.

On Friday, Judge Luc Martineau of the Federal Court of Canada ruled that a May 2008 ban against all smoking in federal penitentiaries --even in designated outdoor areas -- went "too far." If civilians may smoke outside their office buildings, the logic goes, prisoners must be permitted to indulge their habit outside at prisons, too. According to Justice Martineau, inmates may be denied only those rights that are necessary to enforce their punishment, such as freedom of mobility. . . .

Every time a law like this gets passed, observers assume that it represents the final frontier of government intrusiveness. But then the years pass, and nanny-state advocates keep pressing the boundaries of regulations further. Already, the Ontario Non-Smokers' Rights Association is actually pressuring the provincial government to go further -- and rewrite the provincial building code to forbid smoking in all apartments and condominiums. And who knows? They may soon get their wish. After all, a generation ago, who would have thought that many Western restaurants and bars would be smoke-free in 2009?

If the trucker decides to fight his ticket --and we hope he does -- we are confident large sections of Ontario's smoke-free law will be struck down. It is simply not possible in a free and democratic society for the state to be so intimately involved in regulating personal choices, even dumb ones, such as smoking. Until then, we supposed smokers increasingly will have to consider committing an indictable offence in order to indulge their constitutionally protected rights.

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Patio smoking ban under attack 

A proposal that would ban smoking on the outdoor patios of bars and restaurants is under fire from Saskatchewan's hospitality industry.

The Saskatchewan government is looking at updating its no-smoking law, and one of the changes would be a ban on patio smoking. While Saskatoon already has such a ban, Regina and other cities don't.

Health Minister Don McMorris told CBC News a proposal for a provincewide ban may be coming soon.

Tom Mullin, president of the Hotels Association of Saskatchewan, calls the plan unfair. The industry is still reeling from anti-smoking legislation brought in several years ago, which banned smoking in bars, he said.

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Smoking on patios may be banned 

The provincial government is contemplating a smoking ban on restaurant and bar patios and in vehicles carrying minors.

New anti-tobacco legislation, expected to be introduced later this fall, would also set new limits on how close people smoking can be to public buildings and curtail tobacco sales in pharmacies.

The Saskatchewan Party government promised new anti-tobacco measures in the throne speech that started the legislative session last week.

"Allowing pharmacies, especially the big-box store pharmacies, to be selling tobacco products, it's a little counterintuitive to be passing out (smoking) cessation . . . medicine, for example, as well as selling tobacco at the same time," Health Minister Don McMorris said Monday. He noted some provinces have banned stores with pharmacies from selling cigarettes or have required groceries and big-box retailers to keep tobacco products separated from the pharmacy in an area with a distinct entrance.

McMorris said details of the province's legislation still need to be worked out but Saskatchewan must take steps to deal with smoking rates that are among the highest in Canada.

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• Province plans smoking ban 

Cars, patios and pharmacies are all in the Saskatchewan Party government sights as they plan "quite encompassing" new anti-tobacco legislation expected to be introduced later this fall, Health Minister Don McMorris said Monday.

The government promised new anti-tobacco measures in the throne speech starting the legislative session last week.

Among the measures being contemplated are banning smoking on restaurant and bar patios and in vehicles carrying minors, setting new limits on how close people smoking can be to public buildings and curtailing tobacco sales in pharmacies.

"Allowing pharmacies, especially the big box store pharmacies, to be selling tobacco products, it's a little counterintuitive to be passing out (smoking) cessation ... medicine, for example, as well as selling tobacco at the same time," McMorris told reporters at the legislature.

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Saskatchewan considers law to stop drivers from smoking in cars with children 

REGINA — The Saskatchewan government plans to broaden anti-tobacco laws in the province and that may include a ban on smoking in cars with children.

Health Minister Don McMorris says one option under consideration is banning tobacco use in vehicles carrying children under the age of 14. Although, McMorris says no age has yet been set and talks with health groups are underway as the legislation is crafted.

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First smoking in car with child conviction  

A NEW South Wales woman has been convicted of smoking in a car containing a three-year-old child - in what is believed to be one of the first successes with such a prosecution under new state laws.

Since July 1, motorists in NSW have faced a $250 on-the-spot fine for smoking with a child under 16 in the car, mirroring similar laws in South Australia and Tasmania.

Alison Therese Manning, 31, was convicted of the smoking offence yesterday in Coffs Harbour Local Court, on the NSW mid-north coast, but avoided a fine or sentence.

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• Government Stubs Out Car Smoking Ban Laws  

The Government has ditched plans to ban smoking in cars when children are passengers, Sky News Online can reveal.

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The news comes as a woman was convicted of smoking in a vehicle containing a three-year-old child in what is believed to be one of the first prosecutions of its kind in Australia.

Britain was considering moves to introduce similar legislation next year as part of its review of 'smoke-free laws' introduced three years ago.

But a spokeswoman for the Department of Health told Sky this has now changed.

"The Government does not have any plans at this point in time to introduce legislation to prohibit smoking in private cars," she said.

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EDITORIAL: Smoking ban will protect the young 

On Jan. 1, drivers will be prohibited from smoking if anyone under age 16 is in the vehicle. A generation from now, people will look back at this measure and ask why it took society so long to decide that children must be protected from second-hand smoke.

New Brunswick is among a handful of jurisdictions showing leadership on this matter, and it is good to see the province at the front of the pack.

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EDITORIAL: Car smoking ban a good decision by gov't  

Of course if people acted responsibly and voluntarily refrained from exposing their children to second hand smoke this type of law would not be needed. Sadly, that is not the case and everyday we see people driving around with a cigarette between their lips with small children in their vehicles.

These children are being exposed to a harmful mix of chemicals that could negatively affect their lives and cause a host of health problems as they get older.

This law is a step in the right direction and will help protect the most vulnerable people in our society.

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