Tobacco.org

Adults still smoking around children 

FOUR in 10 Victorian smokers continue to light up around children, new figures show.

Data released from a Cancer Council Victoria survey of 4,500 people also reveals 11 per cent of regular smokers either usually or always smoke inside the home, even if living with children.

Royal Children's Hospital pediatrician Dr Rob Roseby said smoking increases the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and elevates the risk of contracting meningococcal disease by a staggering 700 per cent. . . .

A new Quit ad campaign on the dangers of exposing children to secondhand smoke will air in Victoria from Sunday.

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Smoking linked to chronic lower back pain 

Smokers can add another health concern to their list as research shows daily tobacco use can lead to a bad back.

A major Canadian study has identified a higher rate of chronic lower back pain among people who smoke every day, particularly the young.

Professor Michael Cousins said the research suggested their smoking was interfering with pain transmitters, causing osteoporosis or affecting their spine-related blood circulation.

The condition resulted in chronic lower back pain which could also trigger a "downward spiral" in a person's life, he warned.

"Chronic pain is now regarded as a disease in its own right," said Prof Cousins, who is director of the Pain Management Research Institute at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital.

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• Smoking linked to chronic lower back pain  

A major Canadian study has identified a higher rate of chronic lower back pain among people who smoke every day, particularly the young.

Professor Michael Cousins said the research suggested their smoking was interfering with pain transmitters, causing osteoporosis or affecting their spine-related blood circulation.

The condition resulted in chronic lower back pain which could also trigger a "downward spiral" in a person's life, he warned.

"Chronic pain is now regarded as a disease in its own right," said Prof Cousins, who is director of the Pain Management Research Institute at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital. . . .

Prof Cousins commented on the study published in the journal Clinical and Investigative Medicine. . . .

The study was controlled to ensure weight, fitness, education and other factors which can differ between smokers and non-smokers did not skew the results.

"Back pain treatment programs may benefit from integrating smoking habit modification," the researchers said.

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EDITORIAL: Time to ban most deadly drug of all  

A REPORT that puts the social cost of cigarette smoking to Australia at $31 billion has prompted health groups to say it is a mandate to raise the already hefty taxes on cigarettes even further.

They are wrong, in fact it is a mandate to ban cigarettes altogether. . . .

Evidence on the negative impact of smoking on smokers health -- and of passive smoking on innocent bystanders -- is already so well documented as to be incontrovertible.

Another argument against banning cigarettes is that die-hard smokers would merely conspire to drive tobacco underground, in much the same way that the use of banned drugs has been driven underground.

This argument also fails.

The fact is that if cigarettes were banned the vast majority of people now using them would be forced to stop, saving countless lives. As for those who continued to seek out this dangerous drug, unfortunately there is no way to help those who will not be helped.

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• Smoking costs economy $31 billion 

A REPORT that reveals the $31 billion social cost of smoking to the Australian economy is a mandate for tobacco taxes to be hiked, health groups say.

The Cancer Council of Western Australia released what it says is the first independent analysis of economic arguments put forward by the tobacco industry.

The report, prepared by two health economists, assessed the economic impact of both the tobacco industry and public health measures aimed at reducing tobacco use.

It put the economic contribution of the tobacco industry at about $1 billion a year and the estimated social costs of smoking at $31 billion. . . .

Tobacco industry studies estimate cigarette and tobacco retailers provided 500,000 Australian jobs.

But Prof Lapsley said the number was overstated and the study found the industry was a minor and declining contributor to manufacturing output and employment, with profits largely remitted to parent companies overseas.

"The figures put forward by the tobacco producers include jobs of those who sell materials to the industry as well as those at the retail level for whom only a fraction of their business depends on tobacco," she said.

"It also ignores the fact that money saved by quitting or reducing smoking will be spent on other goods and services, themselves generating employment and tax revenues."

Public Health Association of Australia president Mike Daube said the tobacco industry's arguments were misleading and based on self-interest.

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Tobacco costs the Australian economy more than it’s worth (PDF) 

A new report commissioned by the Cancer Council Western Australia debunks tobacco industry arguments that higher tobacco taxes will be detrimental to the Australian economy.

‘Weighing the evidence: evaluating the social benefits and costs of the Australian tobacco industry’ is the first independent analysis of economic arguments the tobacco industry has put forward in its defence over many decades.

Director of the Cancer Council Western Australia’s Tobacco Program, Denise Sullivan said the report assessed the economic impact of both the tobacco industry and public health measures aimed at reducing tobacco use.

“The tobacco industry frequently employs economic scare tactics when policymakers are considering measures for reducing demand for tobacco, such as increases in taxes on the sale of tobacco,” Ms Sullivan said.

“This report provides the evidence that there would be few, if any negative economic consequences in further measures to curb tobacco consumption in Australia.” . . .

“A fall in demand for tobacco, while significantly affecting the tobacco industry, will have very little, if any, negative economic impact. Indeed, it is possible that the overall impact would be mildly positive.”

Professor Collins said the tobacco industry analyses of their contribution to the Australian economy were flawed.

“The industry fails to take into account healthcare costs imposed on the community for the treatment of illnesses caused by tobacco,” he said. . . .

“Clearly tobacco tax revenue paid by the tobacco industry itself does not cover the social costs of tobacco consumption,” Professor Collins said. . . .

“This report gives the Federal Government a strong mandate for a significant tobacco tax increase, which will also enable them to spend more money on public health, including further action to reduce smoking, which still kills one in two regular smokers,” Professor Daube said.

“The only people with anything to lose with this strategy are the tobacco companies themselves.”

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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.

Enlarge photo

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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Fears smoking bans could inflame tensions in overcrowded WA prisons  

Inmates at WA's maximum security Hakea Prison will be banned from smoking in their cells from Monday - prompting fears from prison officers it could further increase tensions in the State's overcrowded jails.

As part of the Department of Corrective Services' smoking reduction policy, inmates at Hakea will be banned from smoking in their cells during the day from next week, according to John Welch, secretary of the WA Prison Officers Union.

Mr Welch said while the union agreed that passive smoking in prisons was potentially harmful to his members, of more immediate concern was the effect a tobacco ban could have on the mood of already tense inmates.

"They will have to wait until they get outside of the units before they will be able to smoke again.

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Smoking, food ban for mother 

A MOTHER has failed in her bid to quash court orders relating to access visits with her daughter, including that she not smoke around the girl and refrain from giving her too much junk food.

The orders were among several imposed by the Children's Court last year after the woman's daughter, then aged four, was removed from her care in 2007.

For legal reasons the girl can be known only as Allegra. Her parents cannot be identified.

In January last year the girl was placed in the care of the Department of Community Services, with her father to assume sole responsibility for her care after 12 months. At the time the mother gave undertakings that, until Allegra turned 18, she would not see the girl while under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs, allow her to be exposed to domestic violence, or denigrate or criticise Allegra's father or his family in her daughter's presence.

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Hi ho, hi ho, is it off to court we go?  

BLOWING smoke rings as she lies back in bed with seven semi-naked dwarves tucked alongside, it's Snow White like you've never seen before.

Now this risque version of the fairytale favourite, renamed "Ho White" to promote a local beer, has drawn the wrath of Disney.

The Jamieson's Raspberry Ale campaign, launched by brewers The Foundry online this week, features an adults-only take on the fairytale character, with dwarves named Filthy, Smarmy and Randy replacing Sleepy, Happy and Doc.

The cheeky ad's creators said it was designed to convince Australian drinkers the fruit-flavoured beer was "anything but sweet".

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Disney sees red over beer ad showing 'Ho White' smoking in bed with seven dwarves: report 

The illustration for Jamieson's Raspberry Ale reinvents the fair-skinned cartoon ingenue as "Ho White."

It's not quite the "happily ever after" Disney would have imagined for its original fairytale princess.

A new advertisement for an Australian beer shows Snow White in a decidedly unladylike boudoir scene with her seven dwarfs - and Disney is anything but pleased, reports Sydney's Daily Telegraph.

The illustration for Jamieson's Raspberry Ale reinvents the fair-skinned cartoon ing�nue as "Ho White."

Disney's innocent raven-haired beauty has been recast as a bordello hustler, casually blowing smoke rings while in bed with all seven semi-nude dwarfs

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• ACT govt cracks down on smoking outdoors  

Smokers will be banned from lighting up in outdoor areas where food and drinks are served under new laws being proposed by the ACT government.

It will force smokers to move at least two metres away from eating and drinking areas if they want a cigarette.

The move - mirroring similar measures in Queensland and Tasmania - is about ensuring a smoke-free workplace for waiters and waitresses, the ACT government says.

But Health Minister Katy Gallagher concedes businesses have a tough time ahead should the laws be passed.

Under the draft laws, any outdoor area where food or drinks are served must remain smoke-free, with restaurants, cafes, clubs and pubs - not the smokers - facing fines if they don't toe the line.

Ms Gallagher said she expected opposition from industry groups, but maintained no worker should be exposed to smoke in their workplace.

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Indicative regulatory cost analysis of proposed tobacco retail display ban for convenience store operators in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia (PDF) 

Executive Summary

A retail display ban (RDB) for tobacco products has recently been implemented in New South Wales and is also proposed for implementation in Victoria and Western Australia. Convenience stores will need to make adjustments to their store configuration and to their operating procedures to comply with a RDB. Deloitte has been engaged by the Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) to assist with an analysis of the likely compliance costs associated with a RDB for convenience store operators. This report outlines the approach and the results of the analysis.

The approach we have adopted for undertaking this analysis has been based on the regulatory costing approach used for Regulatory Impact Statements in Victoria. This methodology focuses on assessing the additional economic costs resulting from compliance with a new regulation and, in particular, estimating the additional business activities (primarily measured in time).

The data contained in this report was gathered through 30 face to face interviews with a sample of convenience store operators in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. The sample was drawn from a population of the convenience store operators who are members of the AACS which has membership of 4200 stores1. Convenience stores who were not part of the AACS membership were not included in the interview process, however, given they follow a similar operating model it is reasonable to expect that they will face similar compliance costs. Nationally, there are approximately 14,400 other convenience store style retail outlets who are not members of the AACS2.

Other retailers impacted by the retail display ban, but not included in this study, include supermarkets, specialist tobacconists, duty free operators and other venues selling tobacco such as hotels and clubs. Nationally, there are approximately 12,700 outlets, other than convenience stores, where tobacco products are stocked3.

Major cost categories

Potential cost categories identified during the interviews with convenience store operators were the following:

• one-off costs: store fit-out costs

• recurring costs: increased transaction time, restocking costs, training costs, costs from having a single point of sale, increased shrinkage, workplace safety, change in sales, compliance with different legislation and regulations in different states. Estimates of one-off costs

Compliance with this new legislation is expected to require significant reconfiguring of existing shop layouts. This includes costs associated with fitting new tobacco storage units as well as the refitting of old tobacco display units for the purpose of other displays. It was estimated by surveyed retailers that this refit would cost between $5,000 and $10,000 per store. These estimates are presented for AACS members in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia, and, for illustrative purposes, for AACS members in other states and a national total for AACS members. The breadth of the range is reflective of the different approaches to compliance proposed by interviewees and the differences in existing fit-outs at each site. Estimates for one-off costs fell within this range in all three surveyed states.

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Pollies drag on smoking bans 

Smoking bans in the Queen Street and Ipswich malls are unlikely to take effect until after Christmas, held up by crucial State Government legislation.

In May, the councils announced they would introduce smoking bans into their city malls but both have been forced to wait for the Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 to pass through State Parliament.

The legislation was introduced into State Parliament on April 23, 2009 but has yet to be debated.

"The State is still yet to pass legislation giving council the power to ban smoking in the Queen Street Mall and council will not be making any decision until that time," a spokesman for Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said.

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