Tobacco.org

• Almost two thirds satisfied with anti-smoking law  

Sixty-three per cent of Austrians are satisfied with implementation of the new anti-smoking law that has been on the books for almost half a year.

Thirty-three per cent want a total ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, 15 per cent are dissatisfied with the present situation in regard to smoking, and 16 per cent have no opinion, according to a recent poll by market-research firm "market."

The anti-smoking law forbids smoking in establishments with an area larger than 50 square metres unless there are separate rooms for smokers and non-smokers. Establishments with areas smaller than 50 square metres may permit or ban smoking.

In the poll, 73 per cent said they had already noticed the impact of the new law

Jump to full article »

Around 14,000 die annually from smoking 

Around 14,000 Austrians out of the 2.3 million who smoke die annually from smoking-related diseases, but more and more women, especial- ly the young, have taken up the habit.

SPÖ Health Minister Alois Stöger used the imminence of World Non-Smoking Day this Sunday to appeal "to the public and above all to the gastronomy industry to implement legal measures for the protection of non-smokers and thereby demonstrate their responsibility for people’s health.”

Jump to full article »

• Cigarettes still burning holes in Austrian ban 

Cafe owners and patrons in Austria are still puffing away seven weeks after a partial smoking ban was introduced, and they are not about to stop.

"Why not turn this place into a hospital, while we're at it?" asks Georg Hold, one of many Viennese "Kaffeehaus" owners now up in arms against the new legislation, which was introduced on January 1.

Smoking bans have been distinctly unpopular and hard to enforce in a country where, according to the World Health Organization, no less than 47 percent of the population smokes, and each consumer burns through an average 2,073 cigarettes per year.

A first attempt in January 2008 to curb smoking in restaurants and bars on a voluntary basis failed miserably.

Jump to full article »

Cigarette smoke facilitates allergen penetration across respiratory epithelium  

Conclusions: Our results indicate that cigarette smoke is a potent factor capable of reducing the barrier function of the respiratory epithelium for allergens and may contribute to increased allergic inflammation, exacerbation of allergic disease and boosting of IgE memory.

Jump to full article »

• Cigarette smoke allows allergens to cross the respiratory epithelium 

Exposing human bronchial epithelial cells to cigarette smoke extract induces a greater than threefold increase in allergen penetration across the respiratory epithelium, research shows.

The results suggest that "cigarette smoking damages the respiratory epithelial barrier and allows allergens to intrude more efficiently into the subepithelial tissues," according to Verena Niederberger (Medical University of Vienna, Austria) and colleagues in the journal Allergy.

Several epidemiological studies have suggested a positive association between smoking and allergy, although this link is still a matter of debate. Other studies, for example, have shown a negative association between active smoking and atopy.

In this study, Niederberger and colleagues investigated whether cigarette smoke directly impaired the barrier functions of the respiratory epithelium for allergens.

Jump to full article »

• Europe's Smoking Culture Lingers, Despite Bans  

Although countries including France, Britain and Italy have introduced bans on smoking in public, Europeans are having a hard time stamping out their nicotine habit. In some cases, that has forced governments to soften antismoking legislation. . . .

Lighting up doesn't carry the social stigma in Europe that it carries in the U.S. Many famous Europeans -- including the Pope, French soccer star Zinedine Zidane and Britain's Prince Harry -- have been known to puff in private without burning their public image. U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, on the other hand, has spoken publicly about the pressure he feels to quit smoking. . . .

But smoking has become a heavy burden for Europe's state-run social-welfare systems, with smoking-related diseases costing well over $100 billion a year.

One out of two teens and adults smokes in Austria, one of the highest smoking rates in Europe. In 2007, 14,000 people died from smoking-related diseases out of an overall population of 8.2 million.

Smoking is common among women and teenagers as well as men. Austrian girls light up, on average, before their 12th birthdays, the youngest age in Europe, according to the World Health Organization.

The Austrian love for cigarettes dates from the 19th century . . .

Many attribute the laxity of the new antismoking law to Ms. Kdolsky, a proponent of free choice when it comes to cigarettes. The 46-year-old former anesthesiologist and hospital director had been a smoker since the age of 16 until she recently ditched the habit.

"Smokers are old enough to decide on their own," she said in an interview last year.

Opinion polls showed that most Austrians were against a full-blown smoking ban, says Ms. Kdolsky. She dismisses claims about the dangers of secondhand smoke. "No international study tells you that sitting in a restaurant for two hours as a passive smoker brings you harm," she says.

Jump to full article »

• Partial smoking ban in Austria: same difference, say critics 

Austria will introduce a partial smoking ban in bars and restaurants on January 1, 2009, but with half measures and special allowances, critics are doubtful it will make much difference to existing habits.

Under the new law, which was rushed through parliament just before it was dissolved in July ahead of snap elections, establishments under 50 square metres (540 square feet) will be able to choose whether to accept smokers or not.

And two thirds of pubs, clubs and cafes have said they will continue to allow smoking, according to the latest survey by the Austrian chamber of commerce (WKOe).

Bigger establishments that do not wish to become entirely smoke-free will have to turn at least 50 percent of their surface into protected no-smoking areas. . . .

"The Austrian smoking ban won't work because it's almost not a smoking ban, except that businesses have to spend a lot of money on making these partitions," noted Sylvia Hartl, a pulmonary disease specialist at Vienna's Otto Wagner hospital.

"Examples from abroad show that a general ban is the way to go,"

Jump to full article »

Cigarette habit kills poor pup  

THIS Dachshund has died - because of his cigarette habit.

Pup General Edi loved munching his way through cigarettes but was hit by a car on his way to get more fags.

His owner Wolfgang Treirler said his 24-year-old pet chewed his way through half a packet of cigarettes every day since he was a puppy.

But Edi died in Graz, Austria, after he was hit by a car during a walk to his favourite cigarette shop.

Jump to full article »

AMA calls for restrictions on tobacco displays  

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says the Victorian Government should ban or restrict retail tobacco displays within 12 months.

The president of the AMA's Victorian branch, Dr Doug Travis, says the State Government can do more to reduce tobacco-related deaths from almost 4,000 a year.

Jump to full article »

• Austrian parliament strengthens anti-smoking law  

Austria's parliament on Wednesday approved a law that will further limit smoking in bars and restaurants, in a last-minute move before voting its own dissolution ahead of early elections in September.

The new law, which will come into force on January 1, 2009, will force all establishments of 80 square metres (861 square feet) or more to build separate smoking-rooms if they choose to serve smokers.

Jump to full article »

Austria parliament tightens smoking restrictions  

Austria's parliament is tightening smoking restrictions in food and drink establishments.

The law passed Wednesday requires restaurants and bars larger than 861 square feet to create separate smoking sections. It prohibits minors and pregnant women from working in spaces where they are exposed to smoke.

Jump to full article »

Two years of pain after smoking bans: hotels  

An international study showing smoking bans in restaurants, bars and nightclubs have no financial impact on businesses is flawed, according to a Queensland industry group.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released a report today and found public smoking bans are effective and largely pain-free, after examining more than 900 studies and government research.

The group concluded that smoke-free policies implemented in bars and restaurants have no impact on business activity.

The results are in contrast to Queensland Hotels Association figures, which show an average seven per cent downturn in revenue during 2006 - the first year of smoking bans in Queensland.

Jump to full article »

Fatal refugee blaze started by stray cigarette 

The fatal fire that broke out at a refugee centre in Klagenfurt on Thursday claiming the life of an African refugee has been explained as the result of a cigarette.

One refugee died and three others were seriously injured after jumping from a second story window to escape the fire. 17 refugees were also slightly injured

Jump to full article »

• LN: Austria takes tough stance on cigarette imports 

Austrian customs officials have started imposing tough fines on persons bringing Czech cigarettes to Austria and in addition they confiscate all the non-permitted cigarettes they find, the daily Lidove noviny wrote Tuesday.

Czechs taking out more than one carton of Czech cigarettes while travelling for holiday to Croatia via Austria could be severely punished because the Austrian customs officials have started imposing tough fines on all drivers who violate "the tobacco law" while crossing the Austrian border, the paper says.

Under the law, passed shortly before the Czech Republic joined the Schengen area without border checks last December, one person can only take out 200 pieces of cigarettes with the Czech-language health warning message while travelling from the Czech Republic to Austria.

Jump to full article »

• Smoking enhances risk of asthma among Austrian teenagers 

Austrian teenager smoke generally and therefore enhanced the risk of suffering asthma, the Austrian Society of Pneumology said in a research results released on Monday, a day before the World Asthma day.

"20 percent of the 15-year-old boys and 25 percent of the 15-year-old girls smoke daily," said the research, about 50 percent students in the vocational schools smoke. Teenager who never smoke are only around 20 percent.

The situation of teenagers who worked in gastronomy is particularly serious with a smoking rate of 70 percent, which mainly attribute to the negative influence from those smoking colleagues and guests.

Josef Riedler, an Austrian specialist on respiratory diseases in childhood and adolescence of Austrian Society of Pneumology, said passive smoking would lead to asthma

Jump to full article »