Tobacco.org

Calaveras Officials Feel It Is Too Easy For Minors To Buy Cigarettes 

Students at Bret Harte High School recently conducted a study in conjunction with the Calaveras County Public Health Department to find out how easy or difficult it is to purchase tobacco underage.

The students attempted to buy cigarettes at 39 businesses, and 33% (13) willingly sold to the students. When the clerks asked for an ID, the students showed their personal identification cards, clearly confirming that they are under the age of 18.

"What we know about cigarette smoking is that the younger they are when they start, the more likely they are to become addicted," says Dr. Dean Kelaita, Calaveras County Public Health Officer. "Selling to the underage is occurring at an unacceptable rate."

Three of the nine tobacco retailers in Angels Camp sold to the minors, so the students recently took the findings to the Angels Camp City Council.

Jump to full article »

Smoking ban on cartoon characters too! 

If you thought it was only a certain former Indian minister who zealously wanted to put an end to smoking on screen, you’re wrong.

For a health group in the UK is trying to one up the ex-minister. Yes, it is planning to certify cartoons that have smoking scenes as 18+!

And, people are equally flabbergasted by the move like many across the world. “It’s quite funny to hear this because the cartoon Popeye single-handedly made spinach a craze in the US, and created awareness about healthy eating among youngsters. If you mention the word Popeye to any kid, I’m pretty sure a pipe will not figure even in the top five terms that they associate with the cartoon,” says software professional Nirmal Venkatranghan.

VJ Pooja, who is a self-confessed Popeye fan, says, “As a fan of Popeye, I can safely say that he doesn’t exactly smoke, in the truest sense of the word.” . . .

Agrees a volunteer from an NGO that preaches against smoking, “These are actions being taken by a few over-zealous individuals who are misguided in their efforts to restrict smoking.” He also offers a constructive alternative, “Instead, governments across the world should use these cartoons constructively to preach about the evil effects of smoking to children.” Now, here is someone talking reason. But will the folks who matter listen?

Jump to full article »

• Using The Internet To Help Young Smokers Quit 

The University of Illinois at Chicago is leading a $2.9 million National Cancer Institute project to increase demand for evidence-based, Internet-based smoking cessation treatment among young adults.

"Even though many young adults think about quitting and actually want to stop smoking, they tend not to use what we know works - evidence-based approaches to quitting," said psychology professor Robin Mermelstein, director of UIC's Institute for Health Research and Policy and principal investigator of the five-year study.

Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have the highest rates of smoking compared to any other age group, but they have among the lowest rates of quitting, according to Mermelstein.

A multidisciplinary team of investigators from UIC, the University of Iowa and the American Legacy Foundation will work with GDS&M Idea City advertising agency to develop interactive, Internet-based ads and evaluate what messages motivate young smokers to use the evidence-based stop smoking program www.BecomeAnEx.org. . . .

The four-part study will develop Internet-based ads, evaluate if the ads are reaching young adults and driving them to Internet-based cessation programs, determine if the approaches are effective, and find out if those who used the Internet-based program were successful in stopping smoking.

Jump to full article »

Movie Character Smoking and Adolescent Smoking: Who Matters More, Good Guys or Bad Guys?  

METHODS: A longitudinal, random-digit-dial telephone survey of 6522 US adolescents was performed with movie exposure assessed at 4 time points over 24 months. Adolescents were asked whether they had seen a random subsample of recently released movies, for which we identified smoking by major characters and type of portrayal (divided into negative, positive, and mixed/neutral categories). Multivariate hazard regression analysis was used to assess the independent effects of these exposures on the odds of trying smoking. . . .

CONCLUSIONS: Character smoking predicts adolescent smoking initiation regardless of character type, which demonstrates the importance of limiting exposure to all movie smoking. Negative character portrayals of smoking have stronger impact on low risk-taking adolescents, undercutting the argument that greater exposure is a marker for adolescent risk-taking behavior.

Jump to full article »

Teen smoking down, seat belt use up in state 

Fewer Montana high school students are smoking, and more are wearing seat belts in vehicles, according to a survey of 1,800 high school students in the state this spring.

The 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also found a smaller percentage of Montana students trying the drugs marijuana and methamphetamine than in the past. . . .

Smoking: The 2009 survey found 50 percent of Montana high school students had tried smoking cigarettes, down from 73 percent in 1997.

"We think it shows a very important trend about students' lifetime health," Kendall said, praising OPI and the state health department's tobacco-prevention efforts.

Jump to full article »

Maryland Notebook: Secrets of Grass-Roots Organizer's Success 

Most Annapolis insiders know Vinnie DeMarco as an indefatigable advocate for universal health care, beloved by progressive Democrats and dismissed by conservatives. As executive director of the nonprofit Maryland Citizens Health Initiative, he's a familiar face to reporters: a friendly nudge, always looking for publicity for his causes.

Now comes a book by Michael Pertschuk, a consumer advocate and a former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, that immortalizes DeMarco and his story as a template for successful grass-roots organizing.

"The DeMarco Factor: Transforming Public Will Into Political Power," scheduled to be published in the spring by Vanderbilt University Press, chronicles DeMarco's successful campaigns against the National Rifle Association, the tobacco lobby, Wal-Mart and the health-care industry.

Pertschuk explains how DeMarco, a former leader of the Maryland Young Democrats, has, since the 1980s, organized broad coalitions of health policy advocates, unions, churches and faith communities and even some business interests to help defeat the state's gun and tobacco lobbies with tougher gun control laws and higher cigarette taxes.

Jump to full article »

Oregon Legislature Passes Smokeless Tobacco Product Tax Increase (H.B. 2672)  

The Tobacco Free Coalition of Oregon (TOFCO) applauds House Speaker Dave Hunt (D – Oregon City) and Representative Sara Gelser (D – Corvallis) for their leadership in passing H.B. 2672, a bill that will protect Oregon’s children from easy access to smokeless tobacco products and help prevent the marketing of these products to young people.

This vital youth protection measure will increase the cost of tobacco products including, but not limited to, new candy and pouch tobacco products such as Snus and Orbs, as well as existing chewing tobacco products and cigars.

“They may look like gum. They may look like breath mints. They may taste like candy. But make no mistake -- these products will kill our children. This is tobacco with training wheels,” said State Rep. Sara Gelser (D-Corvallis-Philomath). “This bill will stop kids from taking up another dangerous habit that today falls outside the tobacco master settlement agreement regulating advertising aimed at teens.”

Jump to full article »

Third Circuit Rules for State Farm in Juvenile Smoking Policy Lawsuit 

A class action over clauses in insurance contracts concerning youth smoking appears to be extinguished. In an unpublished decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld the dismissal of claims against State Farm Insurance Company brought by a plaintiff who sued because the company didn't differentiate between smokers and non-smokers when calculating policy premiums for her children.

In 2002, Samuel Doctor, now deceased, bought life insurance policies for his sons (Samuel, who was 16, and Nathan, who was 10) for face amounts of $15,000 each. The standardized application forms, which State Farm uses for both adult and juvenile applicants, asked Doctor whether each child smoked or used tobacco products. He designated both children to be nonsmokers/non-tobacco users. According to court documents, State Farm has offered tobacco-distinct premiums for adults, but has never offered tobacco-distinct premiums for insureds age 20 and under. Rather, it offers an aggregate juvenile premium rate that takes into account the mortality experience of all juveniles (both those who use tobacco and those who do not). . . .

Other, similar youth smoking suits have bounced around in other jurisdictions without much success. The Pennsylvania suit was seen as the most promising for plaintiffs lawyers.

Jump to full article »

LETTER: Consider this before you smoke a cigarette  

What I hate the most about cigarette smokers is that they litter by throwing their cigarettes on the ground and stepping on them, or sometimes they don't. Adult smokers are noticed by kids and kids are encouraged to smoke. Kids are like, "Hey, look how cool that guy is." Did you know breathing in cigarette smoke is dangerous and is known to cause emphysema and other cancers of the lungs?

Adults aren't the only ones who die from it, teenagers do, too. Most people that are around cigarette smoke for some of their lives are known to get severe asthma. I just want smokers to quit and stay healthy and enjoy the rest of their lives. I also want the environment to become cleaner from less littering.

Jump to full article »

CRONIN: Is the EU in the sway of Big Tobacco?  

Maybe there's still hope for journalism when the News of the World manages to squeeze in a story or two unrelated to Michael Jackson. "European zealots", the paper told us on Sunday, are demanding a ban on smoking outside pubs and offices. The ever-reliable Godfrey Bloom, newly re-elected MEP for Ukip, was rolled out to fulminate against this latest affront to his nation's sovereignty. "It's beyond the nanny state," he said. "It's the bully state. Do they want to close down the English pub?" . . .

the sad fact is that EU officials have not been sufficiently tough in standing up to the tobacco industry representatives that have been strenuously lobbying against an EU-wide smoking ban. The lobbyists have resorted to a sophisticated and sometimes duplicitous campaign in trying to advance their threadbare case that smoking isn't really that harmful. Top-level officials have been quite literally bought by the tobacco industry. Pavel Telicka, the former EU commissioner for health, now works for British American Tobacco, setting up appointments for the firm with his old colleagues in officialdom. Others have been charmed into submission; one former commissioner told me he was convinced that Philip Morris represented the progressive side of the industry. It never dawned on him that the firm had sunk gargantuan sums into making him believe just that by, for example, setting up a medical institute bearing its name.

No national administration would allow paedophiles a say in setting child welfare policies. So why should the views of Big Tobacco on issues of health be taken seriously? And no, I don't think this analogy is too extreme. According to the World Health Organisation, half of the children on this planet have to breathe air polluted by smoke.

This week's move towards creating a "smoke-free environment" across the EU by 2012 is superficially positive, but in reality quite a timid move. The commission's ban will not be legally binding but will rely on the goodwill of national governments to put it into effect. . . .

At the cost of five million lives each year, smoking is the top cause of preventable death in the world. The industry that seeks to profit from this misery is beneath contempt – it's about time our policy-makers started treating it that way.

Jump to full article »

EDITORIAL: Welcome action  

A BAN ON the display of tobacco products and other in-store advertising has been imposed and will, hopefully, lead to a reduction in the incidence of smoking by children and young persons. . . .

Recent research discovered that under-aged persons were being allowed to buy cigarettes from vending machines at 40 per cent of all outlets. To counteract that, the machines will now have to be operated by tokens and will have to be placed under the control of a staff member. Fines of up to €3,000 can be imposed for breaches of this and other regulations.

Price has always been the single most important factor in determining whether - and how much - children smoke. Most users go on to develop a nicotine addiction between the ages of 14 and 18 years. Price is also a major factor in encouraging users to quit the habit. Here too, the Government has been active. The price of 20 cigarettes was pushed up by 75 cent within the past year and it may rise again in the next budget.

The cost to the health services of treating tobacco-related illnesses has been estimated at €1 billion. That is a great deal of money and it could be used productively elsewhere. More important than money, however, is the 6,000 deaths a year caused by nicotine and the tens of thousands of addicts whose lives are blighted by poor health. Young women are now more likely to smoke than young men. They find it harder to quit. If these laws protect members of a new generation from death by lung cancer they will be fully vindicated.

Jump to full article »

Public health initiatives and youth smoking prevention measures are inneffective for over 30 percent of the tobacco industry 

Imperial Tobacco Canada today stated that Canada has lost its leadership in tobacco control thanks to provincial and federal governments ignoring the growing crisis of illegal tobacco sales.

In a speech delivered today at the Canadian Club of Montreal, Benjamin J. Kemball, President and Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Tobacco Canada said "As simplistic as it sounds, part of the solution is to acknowledge that we have a problem. Governments have to work in earnest to find effective solutions that go beyond police operations. A good first step would be to bring everyone involved to the table, from the health communities to the First Nations communities. Someone needs to be put in charge." . . .

Imperial Tobacco Canada believes that effective and enforceable tobacco control regulations are necessary due to the health risks associated with tobacco. The real issue today is the rampant growth of illegal cigarettes that are falling into the hands of young people at pocket money prices; that have no government mandated warnings or other health information; that are manufactured in unlawful factories with no government oversight and no reporting of ingredients or product testing.

Imperial Tobacco Canada believes that something should and can be done now. The road to solving the growth of illegal tobacco sales begins with the Prime Minister mandating a high-level ministerial appointee to take charge of the problem, enforce the current laws, control raw material and machinery. However, none of this will work if the First Nation communities are not invited to be at the table to help shape the solutions.

Jump to full article »

Regulations Restricting the Sale and Distribution of Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco Products to Protect Children and Adolescents  

Document Type PROPOSED RULES

Document Sub-Type NPR-Notice of Proposed Rule-Making

Jump to full article »

Using the Internet to help young smokers quit 

The University of Illinois at Chicago is leading a $2.9 million National Cancer Institute project to increase demand for evidence-based, Internet-based smoking cessation treatment among young adults.

"Even though many young adults think about quitting and actually want to stop smoking, they tend not to use what we know works -- evidence-based approaches to quitting," said psychology professor Robin Mermelstein, director of UIC's Institute for Health Research and Policy and principal investigator of the five-year study.

Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have the highest rates of smoking compared to any other age group, but they have among the lowest rates of quitting, according to Mermelstein.

A multidisciplinary team of investigators from UIC, the University of Iowa and the American Legacy Foundation will work with GDS&M Idea City advertising agency to develop interactive, Internet-based ads and evaluate what messages motivate young smokers to use the evidence-based stop smoking program www.BecomeAnEx.org.

Jump to full article »

• Abbott slams 'trivial' smoking ban  

Coalition frontbencher Tony Abbott says New South Wales is playing nanny state politics with its ban on smoking in cars when children are present.

The former federal health minister has told a public health debate at Sydney University that smoking in front of children is a trivial issue and states should not intervene. . . .

"I was a child that was regularly imprisoned in a car with heavy smokers," he said.

"My parents both smoked heavily when I was a kid. Now has it done me any harm?

"You be the judge... maybe I would have been six foot six and I would have had much greater intelligence, who knows? . . .

"I personally would not get hung up on something, in my view, as trivial as smoking while the kids are in the car."

Long time anti-smoking campaigner Professor Mike Daube from Curtin University disagrees.

Jump to full article »