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Possible Shenandoah smoking ban discussed  

While members of the Shenandoah City Council research how a no smoking ordinance could affect the small community and its businesses, some council members suggested such an ordinance is just another layer of governmental control that may not be necessary.

Councilwoman Jean Teague, who had indicated she would support a no smoking ordinance, asked city staff to include the discussion on the council’s Oct. 26 agenda. However, Teague said after seeing information provided to the council on similar no smoking ordinances in other cities, including Conroe, the issue seemed more complicated than she had anticipated.

“Smoking can be allowed in establishments as long as there is proper ventilation,” Teague said during the Oct. 25 council meeting. “Maybe that’s what we should be looking at.” . . .

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Houston bans smoking in all public buildings, including restaurants and bars. Conroe’s ordinance allows for smoking in bars but not in other public buildings or restaurants.

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Komeito Party Open to Japan Tobacco Shares Sales to Rebuild  

Japan's second-largest opposition party is open to the government selling some of its stake in Japan Tobacco Inc. to fund rebuilding from the March earthquake and nuclear disaster, signaling a willingness to compromise with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's reconstruction plans.

"We can accept selling some JT stock for reconstruction as the potential asset value is high," Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the New Komeito party, said yesterday in an interview at his office in Tokyo. "But rapid sales of the entire stake should be debated cautiously to avoid confusion and damages to tobacco farmers and retailers."

Noda's cabinet today approved the Democratic Party of Japan's plan to raise 9.2 trillion yen ($120 billion) through temporary tax increases. It also agreed to "consider" selling the state's holding of just over 50 percent in Japan Tobacco, amending the DPJ's proposal to do so over the next 10 years. Yamaguchi, 59, said his party favored reducing the government's share to one-third in the former tobacco monopoly.

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A Randomized Trial of Air Cleaners and a Health Coach to Improve Indoor Air Quality for Inner-City Children With Asthma and Secondhand Smoke Exposure, August 2011, Butz et al. 165 (8): 741 

To test an air cleaner and health coach intervention to reduce secondhand smoke exposure compared with air cleaners alone or no air cleaners in reducing particulate matter (PM), air nicotine, and urine cotinine concentrations and increasing symptom-free days in children with asthma residing with a smoker. . . .

Conclusion

Although the use of air cleaners can result in a significant reduction in indoor PM concentrations and a significant increase in symptom-free days, it is not enough to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke.

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• WebQuit for adult smokers is free until August 31  

Aug. 31 to see if they are eligible to enroll in WebQuit, a free, online smoking-cessation study being conducted by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

WebQuit began in June 2010, with a goal to improve the effectiveness of online smoking-cessation programs. Study director Jonathan Bricker, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist who specializes in smoking-cessation research, says that online smoking-cessation programs are improving but still have a very long way to go.

"Quit-smoking websites reach millions of adults 24 hours a day. Unfortunately, these websites have low success rates," said Bricker, a faculty member in the Cancer Prevention Program in the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division. "Our study will help us find ways to boost the success rates of quit-smoking websites."

Study participants will learn new tools for dealing more effectively with urges to smoke. They also will receive step-by-step quit guides and create personalized plans for staying smoke-free.

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Air Cleaners Do Not Thwart Effects of Secondhand Smoke 

Air cleaners significantly reduce particulate matter (PM) levels but are not enough to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in inner-city children with asthma residing with a smoker, a new study has found.

Arlene M. Butz, ScD, MSN, CPNP, with the Division of General Pediatrics at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues reported the findings in the August issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

"Despite parental awareness that second-hand smoke exacerbates asthma, 40% to 67% of inner-city children with asthma reside in a household with at least 1 smoker," the study authors note. According to the researchers, PM concentrations of secondhand smoke exposures have previously been found to be reduced with the use of air cleaners.

The current study sought to test the ability of an air cleaner only (n = 41), an air cleaner plus a health coach (n = 41), or delayed air cleaners (control; n = 44) in reducing PM, air nicotine, and urine cotinine concentrations. The number of symptom-free days was also evaluated. . . .

However, the presence of secondhand smoke, as measured by air nicotine and urine cotinine concentrations, was comparable among the groups. Use of a health coach did not further reduce PM concentrations.

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A Randomized Trial of Air Cleaners and a Health Coach to Improve Indoor Air Quality for Inner-City Children With Asthma and Secondhand Smoke Exposure 

Objective

To test an air cleaner and health coach intervention to reduce secondhand smoke exposure compared with air cleaners alone or no air cleaners in reducing particulate matter (PM), air nicotine, and urine cotinine concentrations and increasing symptom-free days in children with asthma residing with a smoker. . . .

Conclusion

Although the use of air cleaners can result in a significant reduction in indoor PM concentrations and a significant increase in symptom-free days, it is not enough to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke.

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• Indoor air cleaners ease asthma symptoms in children living with smokers, study suggests 

A Johns Hopkins Children's Center study of Baltimore City children who have asthma and live with smokers shows that indoor air cleaners can greatly reduce household air pollution and lower the rates of daytime asthma symptoms to those achieved with certain anti-inflammatory asthma drugs. Although the air cleaners improved the overall air quality in homes, they did not reduce air nicotine levels and did not counter all ill effects of second-hand smoke, the researchers warn.

Parents should be counseled to implement a total ban on indoor smoking and use air cleaners only as a temporary tool on the way to achieving a smoke-free household, the Hopkins team concludes in the Aug. 1 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

"Air cleaners appear to be a an excellent partial solution to improving air quality in homes of children living with a smoker but should not be viewed as a substitute for a smoke-free environment," says lead investigator Arlene Butz, Sc.D., M.S.N., C.P.N.P., an asthma specialist at Johns Hopkins Children's and professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

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Bar owners: Smoking changes paid off  

An airtight, soundproof glass wall wraps around the bar at the Four Kegs sports bar in Las Vegas, separating smoking drinkers from dining patrons.

Four Kegs even customized its air conditioning to mix outside air into the restaurant, making it a higher pressure than the bar. When someone walks through the door between the two areas, the air always blows into the bar.

"You don't smell smoke anywhere in here," said owner Mario Perkins while leaning against a booth.

Perkins installed the "expensive" separation immediately after voters approved the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act in 2006, clearing smoke from grocery stores, restaurants and other places.

"We did it the right way, and I'm glad we did," he said, showing the double-doored glass box where bartenders put drinks for waitresses in the dining area to pick up. "It cost a lot of money but has paid for itself."

Other bar owners opted to close their kitchens rather than comply with the act.

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Study points to hazards in hookah smoking 

A new study from the World Health Organization finds that hookah, a water pipe that arrived in the United States from overseas, is not a healthier alternative to cigarette smoking.

The exotic water pipe, known for its sweet smoke and exotic origins, has been available in the U.S. for years, but has recently gained popularity among younger crowds on college campuses and nightclubs. Many smokers believe the water filters out many of the toxins, making the smoke harmless. But health experts say that isn't the case.

"There is no safe form of smoking," says registered nurse Nicole Schult of Beach Urgent Care. "People should smoke at their own risk because it is not safe."

Many of the health issues with hookah smoking stem from the secondhand smoke, which can linger around the smokers. The Zulu Lounge and Bistro, a restaurant on Kings Highway that focuses on international culture, offers the option of hookah to its customers. To combat secondhand smoke, they make sure they have filters in place to keep the air clean.

"We have an extensive filtration device,"

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• 'Smoking room' confusion reigns in city 

The ordinance regulating so-called enclosed public smoking areas in the City of Sheboygan is one that has just about everybody confused.

Several tavern owners say they've invested big money to build smoking rooms onto their establishments -- offering ventilated areas for patrons to light up without sending them outdoors onto public sidewalks -- and finding out they're not in compliance with the city ordinance.

"I've been MIA from my business for 2½ months because this has taken up all my time and thousands and thousands of dollars and it's kind of a nightmare and a big letdown," said Hamilton Wesley Watt, 64, owner of the Vibez Tavern, 2513 S. Eighth St., who was told by officials last week his smoking room doesn't comply with the city or state smoking ordinances.

Elected officials are trying to rework the ordinance in an effort to help businesses that thought they were following the law in good faith.

"I think the city should at least mirror the state (smoking ban)," Mayor Bob Ryan said. "I don't think we should be any more restrictive than the state."

City zoning and building inspection officials, meanwhile, are staying out of the fray, leaving it up to tavern owners to familiarize themselves with the city and state ordinances before they pull permits and start building smoking rooms

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Kenton Co. Smoking Ban In Effect At Midnight  

COVINGTON -- A partial smoking ban goes into effect in Kenton County at midnight Friday.

The ban bars smoking at all public establishments, with the exception of private clubs and bars that only allow people 21 and older to enter.

Restaurants that also have bars must have separate air circulation systems if they want to allow smoking in the bar area.

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• Hubs, restos can be bad for health 

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY--Hanging out in entertainment hubs and restaurants in Metro Manila can be bad for the health, according to a recent study.

The study, commissioned by the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, showed that of the five types of public places screened for second-hand tobacco smoke in the metropolis, two--entertainment venues and dining areas--had the highest air nicotine levels.

These places also registered extreme concentrations of particulate matters, which are hazardous fine particles produced and released into the air by combustion, including smoking. . . .

The study is a first in the Philippines, said Rene Timbang of the DoH's Environment and Occupational Health Office, who presented the results at a media seminar here on Thursday. . . .

These findings indicated that the ventilation system and the supposedly mandatory designation of smoking areas in public places were poorly implemented. As a result, concentrations of second-hand cigarette smoke indoors were extremely high and harmful to health, Timbang said.

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Is the smoking ban next? 

A group of lawmakers at the Capitol is looking to roll back part of the statewide smoking ban in bars and restaurants.

The legislators today filed a bill that would allow people in bars to smoke if the facility installs a ventilation system to remove the smoke, and a closed door separates the bar from the restaurant.

Effects of HEPA Air Cleaners on Unscheduled Asthma Visits and Asthma Symptoms for Children Exposed to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke  

OBJECTIVE The goal was to test the effects of high-efficiency, particulate-arresting (HEPA) air cleaners on unscheduled asthma visits and symptoms among children with asthma exposed to secondhand smoke. . . .

RESULTS Of 225 enrolled children, 110 (49%) were assigned to the intervention group and 115 (51%) to the control group; 215 (95%) completed the trial. During the trial, there were 42 fewer unscheduled asthma visits among children in the intervention group (18.5% [95% confidence interval: 1.25%-82.75%]; P = .043), compared with those in the control group, after adjustment for baseline differences. There was a significant difference in the reductions of levels of particles of >0.3 µm according to group assignment; there was a 25% reduction in particle levels in the intervention group, compared with a 5% reduction in the control group (P = .026). There were no significant differences in parent-reported asthma symptoms, exhaled nitric-oxide levels, air nicotine levels, or cotinine levels according to group assignment.

CONCLUSIONS These results hold promise for using HEPA air cleaners as part of a multifaceted strategy to reduce asthma morbidity, but further research is necessary before they can be recommended routinely for the medical management of asthma.

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House votes to allow smoking in legislators' offices 

Republicans, who hold a commanding majority in the Missouri House, trounced a proposal Thursday that would have barred legislators from smoking in their Capitol offices.

They agreed, however, to prohibit smoking in the members-only gallery at the rear of the House chamber.

Smoking is already barred in areas of the Capitol controlled by the executive branch, as well as in committee rooms and other common areas. But both the House and Senate allow members to smoke in their offices.

The request to bar smoking in House offices came from Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford, D-St. Louis.

Oxford, who has asthma, said many legislators' offices share the same ventilation system, so it's impossible to confine smoke to a single area.

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