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Iranian newspapers say government allows water pipes back into tea houses 

Iranian newspapers say authorities are allowing water pipes back into tea houses, revoking a smoking ban in place since 2005 when it comes to a favorite Mideast pastime.

The measure by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government is seen as an effort to win more supporters ahead of March parliamentary elections.

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The Water Pipe Wars 

The Iranian capital's restaurants and cafés tend always to be packed, especially in popular areas such as Farahzad, Darakeh, Tajrish, and Velenjak.

I was having dinner with my girlfriend, Bahar, and had just asked the waiter for a water pipe and the story behind the "water pipe wars." The waiter, a tall, skinny lad in his early 20s, had no apparent knowledge of the current political climate. "Well," he said, with a little shiver as if he was unsure that I was not a government agent or plainclothes police officer, "it is a circus. We don't know who is who anymore." He spoke about the "morality police," the special security force responsible for enforcing behavior and dress codes, using their shorthand name: "The Amaken tell us it is OK to serve water pipes, but the police come the next day and shut down the restaurant and prohibit the smoking of the pipes. It is confusing, because we have to keep paying both of them off."

Bahar, who had just finished her dinner and lit a cigarette, said, "Of course, the Amaken are appointed by the governor who is appointed by the president, and the police are controlled by the Leader and are directed by the judiciary branch. This is all a political maneuver to win votes in the upcoming parliamentary election." . . .

Bahar ignored him and picked up her cigarette with her thumb and index finger. Holding it upside down, she raised her hand and, gesturing at me with it, said, "Do you know that I can get arrested for smoking this cigarette in the street? There are so many new regulations that are being issued left and right by the police contradicting the normal laws that govern the society -- not that those were any better -- that it really is confusing." Her voice was filled with conviction, and who was I to contradict her?

One of the boys in the group of youngsters, who was smoking his water pipe so forcefully that I wondered if he might turn blue at any moment, looked at me. Blowing smoke out of his mouth and nose simultaneously, he said, "Where do you live, man? Who cares about the election? Are you from outside of Iran?

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• Iran fires up voters with partial lifting of water pipe ban  

Revoking a smoking ban may seem an unlikely way to boost election turnouts. But in Iran, authorities are hopeful that allowing the traditional hubble-bubble, or water pipes, back into tea houses could encourage reluctant voters to go to the polls.

The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has signed into law a bill that removes tea houses from the list of places where smoking tobacco is prohibited, Iranian newspapers reported on Thursday.

The move comes only two weeks after Iran's court of administrative justice, a judicial body independent of the government, banned the smoking of all sorts of tobacco in traditional restaurants and tea houses. Iranians were allowed only to smoke certain types – perceived to be less dangerous – in the past.

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• National and subnational mortality effects of metabolic risk factors and smoking in Iran: a comparative risk assessment 

Background

Mortality from cardiovascular and other chronic diseases has increased in Iran. Our aim was to estimate the effects of smoking and high systolic blood pressure (SBP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC), and high body mass index (BMI) on mortality and life expectancy, nationally and subnationally, using representative data and comparable methods. . . .

Discussion

Management of blood pressure through diet, lifestyle, and pharmacological interventions should be a priority in Iran. Interventions for other metabolic risk factors and smoking can also improve population health.

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Association of waterpipe smoking and road traffic crashes 

Background

The purpose of this research was to examine whether waterpipe smokers experience increased risk of motor vehicle crashes.

Methods

In a telephone survey, a random sample of Iranian drivers were asked to report their age, gender, vehicle age, whether their vehicles were equipped with anti-lock braking system (ABS), average daily drive time (DDT), whether they smoked cigarette or waterpipe, whether they had diabetes mellitus (DM), number of traffic crashes during the last calendar year and whether the crash involved a pedestrian or another vehicle.

Results

A total of 2070 motor vehicle owners with the mean age of 41.6 ± 11.45 were interviewed. The annual incidence of Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) was 14.9%; 14.0% involved a collision/s with other vehicles and 0.9% with pedestrians. There was an association between the RTC and male gender, DDT, being a cigarette smoker, being a waterpipe smoker and DM in univariable analysis. The association between RTC and being a waterpipe smoker and also cigarette smoker was significant in multivariable analysis after adjustment for DDT.

Conclusions

Being waterpipe and/or cigarette smoker and DDT were the independent predictors of the number of traffic crashes in Poisson regression model. If the increased risk of RTC among waterpipe or cigarette smokers is seen in other studies, it would be beneficial to promote tobacco cessation and control strategies through injury prevention initiatives.

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Association of waterpipe smoking and road traffic crashes (PDF) [FREE FULL TEXT] 

In this time of injury epidemic[33] and growing waterpipe use, no previous investigations have answered the question of whether waterpipe is a contributor to this rising injury burden. The purpose of this research was to examine whether waterpipe smokers experience increased risk of motor vehicle crash.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, a telephone survey was arranged over a random sample of Iranian drivers. . . .

Discussion

Our study is among the first to show the higher risk of RTC in waterpipe smokers, yet the mechanisms of this finding need to be studied further. The mechanism(s) might be partially similar to cigarette smoking. The association of smoking and RTC has been demonstrated in some prior studies. Studies from Spain and also the United States have shown smokers to have a 50 percent higher risk of RTC than nonsmokers[34,35]. In the study from the US which was on subjects attending a driving safety course, this surplus remained even after controlling for the effect of  age, education, alcohol consumption and driving experience[35]. Another study from Canada showed that 30-39 year old males who had been at-fault in crashes were 1.5 times more likely to be smokers[36]. Other studies have shown this risk to be higher for smoking while driving. In a Montreal study, drivers involved in MVCs resulting in injury or death were 1.75 more likely to have been smoking at the time of crash than matched controls[37]. However, our study did not focus on smoking while driving, but being a smoker at all.

The relationship between smoking and RTC seems to be far from distraction and carbon monoxide effect on the driver as the risk exists regardless of whether drivers refrain from smoking while driving or not[34]. Other mechanisms which have been implicated are as follow: cognitive impairments secondary to chronic nicotine exposure, risk taking and sensation seeking behaviors [38,39], smoke-induced eye blurring and cough and the resultant fatigue[40,41] and even decreased vision of smokers due to deposited smoke on the automobile windshield[36]. Prior injury history and risky behaviors such as seat belt non-use have also been reported to be more common in smokers[2]. . . .

Conclusion: This study showed the independent association between out-of-the wheel waterpipe smoking and having road traffic crashes and also the number of crashes.

Further research is necessary to show the exact mechanisms that render waterpipe smokers to have higher number of crashes. In addition, the association shown in this manuscript is not necessarily a causative one. For instance, “clustering of high risk behaviors” in people can be proposed as a potential explanation: people who smoke waterpipes are more likely to be more careless drivers; as they might prefer driving with high speeds and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately, the data collected in this study are not sufficient to test this hypothesis of risk factor clustering in drivers who smoke waterpipes.

If the increased risk of RTC among waterpipe or cigarette smokers is seen in other studies, it would be beneficial to promote tobacco cessation and control strategies through injury prevention initiatives.

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• Association of waterpipe smoking and road traffic crashes 

Background

The purpose of this research was to examine whether waterpipe smokers experience increased risk of motor vehicle crashes. . . .

Conclusions

Being waterpipe and/or cigarette smoker and DDT were the independent predictors of the number of traffic crashes in Poisson regression model. If the increased risk of RTC among waterpipe or cigarette smokers is seen in other studies, it would be beneficial to promote tobacco cessation and control strategies through injury prevention initiatives.

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• Prevalence of smuggled and foreign cigarette use in Tehran, 2009 [FREE FULL TEXT] 

Background

Iran is one of two main target markets for tobacco smuggling in the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region. The Iranian government has a local tobacco monopoly but there is high demand for international brands. Informal reports show about 20% of cigarette consumption is smuggled brands. This pack survey study is the first in Iran to gather validated information on use of smuggled cigarettes. . . .

Conclusions

Use of illegal cigarettes is high. Tobacco control laws outlawing their sale are not being enforced.

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Official: Marlboro tainted with N-matter 

An Iranian official says some of the most popular cigarette brands are contaminated with nuclear substances when smuggled into the country.

"Some of the most famous cigarette brands worldwide including Marlboro, which accounts for the bulk of smuggled cigarettes [into the Islamic Republic] are tainted with [hazardous] nuclear materials," Mehr News Agency quoted Mohammad-Reza Madani from the Society for Fighting Smoking as saying on Friday.

"The largest tobacco companies in the world use various tricks in order to keep their markets and increase their sales," Madani added.

He went on to add that the company responsible for the production of the tainted cigarettes is the "Philip Morris International, which is led by Zionists (Israelis)," and sells Marlboro outside the US.

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• Iran report: Cigarettes implicated in Western plot 

An Iranian official says cigarettes smuggled into Iran have been tainted with pig blood and nuclear material as part of a Western conspiracy.

The semiofficial Mehr news agency quotes Mohammad Reza Madani from the Society for Fighting Smoking as saying contraband Marlboros have been contaminated with pig hemoglobin and unspecified nuclear material.

Madani claims Philip Morris International, which sells Marlboro outside the U.S., is "led by Zionists" and deliberately exports tainted cigarettes.

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Smokers to be banned from executive jobs in Iran 

Smokers are to be banned from entering high-ranking executive jobs in the Iranian government, the news agency ILNA reported Monday. . . .

In case of protests by rejected applicants, the final decision is to be made by a medical council from the medical university of their hometowns on whether the required health conditions are met or not, said ILNA, the new agency of the country's labour party.

The new regulations will take effect as soon as inked by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the report said.

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• Iran nixes smoking for executive aspirants  

People addicted to tobacco cannot get jobs with the government's executive branch, according to the semi-official Iranian Labour News Agency, which cited a directive published Monday by the Cabinet's information office.

The directive -- intended to ensure that applicants are healthy physically and mentally -- follows the guidelines of the Law of the National Services Management, ILNA reported.

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• Serious campaign to start against cigarette smuggling in Tehran 

The Iranian Tobacco Company announced on Monday that it plans to take serious measure against cigarette smuggling in the metropolis of Tehran.

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance with the cooperation of the Tehran Tobacco Office will inspect all stores, shops, and supermarkets to find smuggled cigarettes.

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• Surge in Iranian female smokers 

The smoking rate among Iranian women is about 4.5%, jumping from 1.5% in the past years, a member of the anti-drug committee at the Health Ministry said here on Monday.

Warning of the alarming rise in number of female smokers across the country, Hassan Azaripour said, "Smoking rate for men is still higher than women, but what is important is that smoking pattern is on the verge of change in developing countries, including Iran."

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TDR to build tobacco factory in Iran 

Rovinj Tobacco Factory (TDR), a member of the Adris group, is planning to build a tobacco plant in Iran and to expand its business in the southwest-Asia market.

Adris has announced it will invest 30 million Euros in those projects.

TDR and Iranian Tobacco Company heads Davor Tomaskovic and Mahmood Abtahi have already signed an agreement.

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