Tobacco.org

Contribution of smoking during pregnancy to inequalities in stillbirth and infant death in Scotland 1994-2003: retrospective population based study using hospital maternity records 

Conclusions Both tackling smoking during pregnancy and reducing infants' exposure to tobacco smoke in the postnatal environment may help to reduce stillbirths and infant deaths overall and to reduce the socioeconomic inequalities in stillbirths and infant deaths perhaps by as much as 30-40%. However, action on smoking on its own is unlikely to be sufficient and other measures to improve the social circumstances, social support, and health of mothers and infants are needed.

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• Stillbirths And Infant Deaths Related To Smoking During Pregnancy And Socioeconomic Inequalities 

New research published on bmj.com today reports that addressing the problem of smoking during pregnancy may help to reduce the socioeconomic inequalities in stillbirths and infant deaths by as much as 30 to 40 percent.

Without a doubt smoking during pregnancy has been associated with stillbirth. In addition, infant deaths and smoking rates during pregnancy vary strikingly with socioeconomic position. In order to find out more, a team of researchers began the task of measuring the effects of smoking during pregnancy and on the social inequalities gap in stillbirths and infant deaths.

They assessed the records of 529,317 live singleton births and 2,699 stillbirths delivered at 24 to 44 weeks' gestation in Scotland from 1994 to 2003.

Information on smoking during the pregnancy was gathered. A deprivation score was designated using postcode data from the 2001 population census.

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Scotland | MSPs to back tobacco display ban 

New laws to end the display of tobacco in shops in Scotland are expected to pass their first parliamentary hurdle.

The Tobacco and Primary Medical Services Bill would also ban cigarette vending machines and introduce a registration scheme for retailers.

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Yes, Minister…Oh No, Minister! 

“Documentation(1) produced by NACMO (The National Association of Cigarette Vending Machine Operators) clearly illustrates how the Scottish Government has been provided with fiction,” states Eddie Douthwaite from pro-choice group Freedom To Choose (Scotland). “The quality of their evidence and decision-making must be put into question.”

Public Health Minister Shona Robison provided the misleading statement(2) to the Health and Sports Committee evidence sessions stating, “For me, the fundamental question is whether tobacco is an appropriate product to sell in a vending machine. We would not sell other age-related dangerous products in vending machines, so why do we sell cigarettes in that way?” . . .

Despite the claims of Shona Robison, other age-restricted products are not banned from vending machines - as NACMO correctly points out, “alcohol, lighters and aspirin are all legally vended through machines across Scotland. These products can pose significant health risks yet the Government is singling out tobacco vending machines.”

In addition to forcing shops to conceal tobacco displays from public view, the Tobacco and Primary Services Medical Bill proposes to ban the use of tobacco vending machines, immediately closing 15 businesses and putting 60 people out of work. NACMO have since invested in a Radio Frequency Control System for their vending machines that would prevent young people accessing tobacco products and avoid the loss of these jobs.

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15,000 'new kid smokers every year' sasy ASH Scotland 

MORE than 15,000 young Scots take up smoking every year, campaigners will claim today.

Anti-cigs pressure group ASH will unveil the figure as they call for a ban on tobacco promotional displays in shops.

ASH Scotland chief Sheila Duffy said: "Fifteen thousand young people take up smoking every year. Retail displays have an impact on future smokers - not current ones.

"Removing displays may well incur a one-off cost, which I think the industry should bear if they want retailers to continue to stock their products.

"But it is a health measure that must be weighed against the cost to public health, lives and the NHS."

Ms Duffy will also tell a conference in Edinburgh today that despite a rise in the age to buy cigs to 18, four per cent of Scots 13-year-olds still smoke.

A displays ban would be introduced under the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill, which will be debated in Parliament tomorrow.

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Cigarette display ban 'will reduce child smoking'  

Banning cigarette displays in corner shops and supermarkets will help reduce child smoking in future generations, Public Health Minister Shona Robison said on Tuesday.

The move is one of the proposals in the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill, which is to be debated in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday.

The minister was visiting a shop in Perth, whose owner supports the plans to ban tobacco displays.

The new bill's proposals include a ban on tobacco displays in shops, the introduction of a registration scheme for retailers, banning cigarette vending machines, fixed penalty notices for retailers who sell cigarettes to under 18s and banning orders to prevent retailers selling cigarettes if they continually flout the law.

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Smoking ban could cut heart attacks by a third  

SMOKING bans can cut the number of heart attacks by more than a third, two major studies have found.

The research suggests many thousands of lives will already have been saved by stopping people smoking in public places.

Professor David Meyers, who led one of the studies, said: "Public smoking bans seem to be tremendously effective in reducing heart attack and, theoretically, might also help to prevent lung cancer and emphysema.

"The cardiac benefits increased with longer ban duration."

It was claimed this month that heart attack rates fell by about 10 per cent in England in the year after the smoking ban was introduced in July 2007.

Separate research showed a 14 per cent fall in heart attack numbers in Scotland, where a ban was imposed a year earlier.

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Tayside and Central | Tobacco display ban moves nearer 

Ending the display of cigarettes in shops will help stop future generations of children smoking, Scotland's public health minister has claimed.

Shona Robison made the comments as part of moves to highlight the government's Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill.

She was visiting Perth to harness support for the bill, which will ban tobacco displays at the point of sale.

The bill is due to be debated in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday.

In addition to banning tobacco displays in shops, the bill also aims to ban cigarette vending machines and introduce a registration scheme for retailers.

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• Tobacco warning from 17th Century 

Doctors in the 17th Century were worried about the dangers of young people smoking, a recently unearthed letter has revealed.

The letter, written in 1606 by Dr Eleazar Duncon, said tobacco was "hurtful" to the nation's youth.

It was found by library staff at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE).

The Scottish Parliament will this week debate new proposals to curb tobacco and cigarette sales to youngsters.

Dr Duncon's letter reveals medical professionals were similarly concerned about the issue four centuries ago.

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[Tobacco] is so hurtful and dangerous to youth that it might have the pernicious nature expressed in the name, and that it were as well known by the name of Youths-bane as by the name of tobacco.
Recently-found letter by Dr Eleazar Duncon which was published in Scotland in 1606.

• LETTER: Tobacco displays  

Further to the comments of Japan Tobacco International's Daniel Torras (Letters, 17 September), the Canadian province of Saskatchewan has had seven years' experience with a retail display ban.

A government survey shows our youth smoking rate has decreased from 29 per cent in 2002 to 20 per cent in 2008. All parties supported this and other measures, and the law has had good public support. Ex-smokers also say it is easier to resist the temptation to resume smoking when not faced with tobacco displays.

The negative economic impact claimed by the tobacco industry and others has not happened. Neither has there been an increase in smuggling.

We commend the Scottish Government for putting the interests of Scotland's children first. Please ignore the fear-mongering of an industry that is only interested in garnering new customers. It will fight to keep its product in front of the next generation of smokers – the children and youth of Scotland.

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Cigarette firms attack 'unwanted' tobacco displays ban  

CIGARETTE firms yesterday insisted that a proposed ban on tobacco displays was "unnecessary, unjustified and unwanted".

Christopher Ogden, the chief executive of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association, also claimed the display ban – put forward by the Scottish Government – could be exploited by organised crime.

The tobacco boss hit out after the majority of MSPs on Holyrood's health and sport committee gave their backing to the move.

But Mr Ogden said: "The last thing we need in the midst of recession is further regulation that will facilitate illicit trade in tobacco products and impact adversely on thousands of small retailers and the communities they serve."

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• Holyrood health committee backs ban on cigarette displays in shops  

Corner shops were dealt a devastating blow today when an influential Holyrood committee backed a proposed ban on tobacco displays.

MSPs have concluded that the display of cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products by shop cash registers is the same as advertising.

In a report out today, the Scottish Parliament's health and sport committee says a ban on displays would help the fight against the physical harm done by smoking.

Its inquiry into the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill also backs banning cigarette vending machines.

In addition, the committee has called for the purchase of tobacco on behalf of anyone under the legal age of 18 to be made a criminal offence.

Shopkeepers have been up in arms over the government's proposals to put a stop to point-of-sale displays.

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MSPs committee backs ban on tobacco displays 

A COMMITTEE of MSPs today backed plans to ban cigarette displays in shops.

The Scottish Parliament's health and sport committee said it believed forcing retailers to keep tobacco products out of sight would help deter teenagers from smoking.

And it rejected claims that shopkeepers faced excessive costs in reorganising their premises to comply with the ban.

The committee also gave its support to a ban on cigarette vending machines and a national register of tobacco retailers.

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Newsagents fume over cigarette ban  

A ban on tobacco displays could backfire and encourage children to smoke, a north-east retail leader claims.

Jim Maitland, spokesman for the National Federation of Retail Newsagents, said forcing tobacco products below the counter will just increase their mystique.

Cigarette firms also said the move could be exploited by organised crime.

It follows publication yesterday of a Holyrood health and sport committee report backing the Scottish Government's proposal to ban point-of-sale tobacco displays.

MSPs backed outlawing cigarette vending machines, making it illegal to buy tobacco for the under-18s. . . .

The National Association of Cigarette Machine Operators said a ban on vending machines will put 60 people out of work and 15 firms out of business. Chairman Paul Mair said: "Vending machines account for 0.8% of all tobacco sold in Scotland and there is no direct evidence to prove they are a major source of cigarettes for under-age smokers.

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McKee happy tobacco to be out of sight 

THE move towards curtailing the promotion of tobacco products has been welcomed by a city MSP who is a former GP.

Dr Ian McKee said the publication of first stage of the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services Bill was a step in the right direction.

The Lothians MSP said the move to reduce the visual presence of cigarettes and their advertising would help improve the long-term health of the country.

"There is no doubt that visible cigarette advertising contributes to attracting teenagers to purchase tobacco products and this cannot go on," he said.

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