Tobacco.org

• School asks if kids can smoke 

A special needs school has come under fire for asking parents' permission for pupils to smoke – then offering nicotine patches for the youngsters to quit the habit.

Parents have blasted the policy at the Gatehouse School for boys as not only bizarre but downright dangerous for children as young as 12.

One father told how he received a letter, complete with a tear-off form, asking him to give his permission for his 13-year-old son to smoke. . . .

Gatehouse insisted it had a no smoking policy, for which it has won an award, and said the original letters were sent out to identify parents who consent to their sons smoking in order to target them for the anti-smoking programme.

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• News: Women smokers hit hard by lung disease 

A silent killer in Wisconsin is starting to stalk women more than men.

It goes by a relatively new name - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - but has an old cause, cigarette smoking, in 85 percent of the cases.

Doctors and officials from the Wisconsin Public Health and Health Policy Institute and the American Lung Association of Wisconsin released a report on COPD on Monday at the State Capitol.

They said that in the past 20 years, deaths of Wisconsin women from COPD - an umbrella term for ailments that obstruct airflow to the lungs, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis - more than quadrupled. . . .

In the not-so-distant future, COPD may be a predominantly female disease, the study said.

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• US District Court Enters Order in Star Scientific Patent Infringement Suit, Setting Time Frame for Resolution of Summary Judgment Motions 

Star Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: STSI) announced today that an Order, relating to the August 28, 2003 hearing on pending motions in the company's patent infringement lawsuit against RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, Inc., has been entered in the US District Court for the District of Maryland (Southern Division). The order confirms statements made by presiding Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. during the hearing, in which he suggested that he was considering the appointment of a Special Master.

Judge Williams states in his Order that the patent infringement case brought by Star "presents complicated issues of patent law necessitating significant technical knowledge and expertise. "

The Order refers all but one of the outstanding summary judgment motions and accompanying exhibits to a Special Master with expertise in patent litigation.

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• REGULATORY IMPACT ASSESSMENT ON DRAFT MINISTERIAL REGULATIONS TO BAN SMOKING IN THE WORKPLACE, INCLUDING HOSPITALITY VENUES (PDF) 

The Irish Hospitality Industry Alliance (IHIA) is a broad representative body comprising members from the following sectors: hotels, pubs, restaurants, guest houses, bed and breakfasts, nightclubs, registered clubs and tourism venues. There are some 214,000 persons employed in around 16,400 tourism and hospitality venues in Ireland.

At the outset, the IHIA wish to make clear that smoking is unhealthy, and that the Alliance supports the Government’s broad strategy which aims to reduce the numbers smoking.

The policy rationale for the Government’s proposals to ban smoking in the workplace is based on a report published in January 2003 by the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) for the Department of Health and Children. The report concluded that passive smoking - Environment Tobacco Smoke (ETS) – is carcinogenic i.e. it causes cancer, and current ventilation technologies cannot adequately control worker exposure to ETS.

The purpose of this submission is to carry out a systematic, objective, evidence-based analysis – a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) – of the Government’s proposals to introduce a total ban, with effect from 1 January 2004, on smoking in workplaces, including tourism and hospitality venues. . .

The Government appears set to take a decision to ban smoking in the workplace in the absence of an in-depth research study into the incidence of ETS exposure in workplaces under Irish circumstances.

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• Little Havana cigar maker says P. Diddy exposed trade secret 

The artist formerly known as Puffy has a Little Havana cigar maker fuming.

The owners of Moore & Bode Cigars have filed a lawsuit against hip-hop mogul Sean Combs -- aka P. Diddy -- claiming he used footage of the shop's ''secret'' rolling techniques in a music video for the Bad Boys II soundtrack.

The suit, filed Sept. 4, names Combs, his label Bad Boys Entertainment and an unnamed cameraman who allegedly filmed the shop's tabaqueros as they crafted the stogies.

According to the lawsuit -- which asks for unspecified compensation -- a cameraman and film crew entered the Moore & Bode facilities on Calle Ocho in June while the owners were out.

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• Smokers 'Taking it to the Streets' to protest ban 

A collective puff of cigarette smoke will permeate the air outside of restaurants and bars across Western New York tonight, when patrons stand outside with placards and light up to protest the new smoking ban.

During the statewide protest, dubbed "Taking it to the Streets," customers at participating venues will be asked to step outside for a brief protest starting at 8:30 p.m., to show their disapproval of a smoking law, in effect since July 24, that has banned smoking in all workplaces, including bars, restaurants and bowling alleys.

Protests are planned for least three local venues - in Kenmore, Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda.

Organized by the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association, the rally is meant for those who cannot attend the group's larger protest, which is scheduled for Tuesday morning on the steps of the state legislative office building in Albany.

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• College students support smoking restrictions 

U.S. college students express strong support for tobacco control policies that aim to reduce cigarette smoking on college campuses, according to a new survey by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).

As reported in the September 2003 issue of the journal Tobacco Control, most of the students surveyed favored policies ranging from banning smoking in all dormitories and other campus buildings to prohibiting the sale or advertising of tobacco products on campus. Support for all of these policies was stronger among nonsmokers, but even smokers favored making all college buildings smoke-free and prohibiting tobacco company advertising and sponsorship of campus events. . . .

"Being able to say that the overwhelming majority of college students want smoke-free environments is a powerful tool. Our findings should reassure college administrators considering banning smoking in dormitories and other actions," Rigotti says. "These policies can help students resist tobacco companies' messages and prepare them for the wider world, where smoke-free environments have become the norm in workplaces, restaurants and even bars."

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• Mistrial Granted in Second-Hand Smoke Trial 

Cigarette makers on Monday won a mistrial in a Florida lawsuit brought by a former flight attendant who alleges that second-hand smoke caused her cancer.

A judge in Miami halted the trial of Gail Routh's lawsuit after two jurors bowed out of hearing evidence that the former flight attendant, a nonsmoker who was a flight attendant for more than 25 years, reportedly would die within two years from work-related lung cancer. Routh, who is seeking millions of dollars in compensation, also claims to suffer from chronic sinusitis and chronic bronchitis. The court will begin selecting a new jury next week. . .

Attorneys for the cigarette makers, which also include Philip Morris USA, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and Lorillard Tobacco Co., contend there is no evidence that second-hand smoke caused Routh's cancer or other health problems.

Lawyers for the tobacco companies asked Judge Herbert Stettin for a mistrial after the loss of two jurors left only five to hear the case.

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• Smokers used as guinea pigs for jailed doctor's treatment 

At least 4,000 Israelis, including well-known personages like former defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, took part in an experimental program to quit smoking run by doctors who in effect broke the most basic ethical rules - and based their program on a single medical article by a doctor serving time in America for prescribing dangerous drugs.

A Health Ministry probe, prompted by a Haaretz query in January of this year, found that a clinical test with 20 participants turned into an anti-smoking treatment offered at the Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson Hospital) in Petah Tikva that was taken by some 4,000 patients, mostly sent by their HMOs.

The doctors did not ask the patients to sign a waiver regarding testing on humans, even though the treatment was offered on the basis of a research proposal to the Helsinki Committee, which must approve any testing on humans. The proposal to the Helsinki Committee was based on a single publication, "which itself was not very convincing and raised a lot of questions," said the ministry probe. . . .

The hospital said the project was based on a 1986 article by Dr. Nicholas Bachynsky in the International Journal of Addiction, in which he describes an effective anti-smoking "cocktail" consisting of low dosages of atropine and scopolamine, usually used to slow down heart rates and as an antidote for gas poisoning, with chlorpromazine, a psychiatric drug that can have an impact on judgment.

An Internet search would have revealed to the hospital that in 1997, the year the anti-smoking workshop opened at Beilinson, Bachynsky was released after eight years in prison. Bachynsky had headed a chain of weight-loss clinics

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• Senate returns, advocates fear much will remain undone 

As the Senate prepared for its one-day session Tuesday, advocacy groups and lobbyists made last-minute pitches to add reforms of election, lobbying and smoking laws to the chamber's short agenda. . . .

The Senate will be met with a planned rally led by the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association outside the Capitol to protest the state's two-month-old indoor smoking ban. The group contend the law hurts businesses and infringes on personal freedoms.

That protest will be countered by a press conference from anti-smoking groups, who said Monday a poll they commissioned showed "strong and deep" support for the smoking ban across the state. The poll shows seven in 10 of the 600 registered New York voters contacted support the smoking ban.

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• Grand Prix strategy sputters in Ottawa 

Bernie Ecclestone may have overplayed his hand.The Liberal government's backbone stiffened yesterday in the battle over its controversial antitobacco legislation, which will ban sponsorships at high-profile events such as Montreal's Canadian Grand Prix and is to go into effect on Oct. 1.

Government sources suggested yesterday the federal government is now leaning toward allowing the legislation to go into effect unchanged, even if this guarantees that the Formula One auto-racing circuit bypasses Montreal in 2004 and thereafter. The reason: Many cabinet ministers believe that Mr. Ecclestone, who runs the F1 operation almost as a private fiefdom, isn't interested in any kind of compromise.

Indeed, some government officials wonder whether Mr. Ecclestone's real concern is the tobacco legislation at all. Perhaps he just doesn't want to stop in Montreal any more, they suggest, and is more interested in seeking out new venues in Europe and Asia. If that's the case, what's the point of even considering a compromise . . .

"At some point, when you are dealing with a blackmailer, you have to say no," added Francis Thompson of the Non-Smokers Rights Association.

Indeed, the word blackmail in relation to Mr. Ecclestone received wide airing yesterday on Parliament Hill. Why, MPs wonder, has Mr. Ecclestone been willing to compromise regarding antitobacco legislation in France and England but not in Canada?

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At some point, when you are dealing with a blackmailer, you have to say no.
Francis Thompson of the Non-Smokers Rights Association, on F-1's Bernie Ecclestone. The epithet, applied to Mr. Ecclestone, also received wide airing yesterday among MPs on Parliament Hill.

• Tavern, restaurant owners join forces to head off smoking ban 

Louisville bar and restaurant owners have formed a coalition to lobby against a ban on smoking in public places, arguing that such a measure would cripple their businesses.

"In today's economy, the local hospitality industry cannot afford this kind of financial hit," said Mike Hatzell, attorney for the new Metro Louisville Hospitality Coalition.

"It would be a devastating blow to many taverns and restaurants, forcing many to trim their operations," lay off employees or, perhaps in the case of some marginal businesses, even lead to their closing.

The coalition incorporated last week as a nonprofit group and announced yesterday that it hopes to raise $100,000 to $200,000 to promote its opposition to any prohibition against smoking in places where people eat and drink.

Mike Kuntz, a spokesman for the Smoke Free Louisville Campaign, the lead organization rallying for an anti-smoking measure, called the coalition's formation and its stated positions "predictable." . . .

Dant said the coalition will not accept money from tobacco companies or tobacco-related interests. Taking their money "might get us some bad publicity," he said.

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• QUITPLAN(TM) Helpline Raising Odds that Smokers Can Kick the Habit 

Smokers trying to kick the habit are up to seven times more likely to be successful if they use the telephone counseling service, QUITPLAN, than if they try quitting on their own. The success rate soars even higher when the telephone counseling is combined with nicotine patches or gum, according to preliminary data.

Success also has financial benefits, not just for smokers, but for all Minnesotans. For every one dollar spent helping QUITPLAN Helpline callers quit smoking, Minnesota saves approximately $2.31 in health care costs.

These findings are part of an independent evaluation of the QUITPLAN Helpline (previously named Minnesota's Tobacco Helpline). The Helpline is sponsored by the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco (MPAAT).

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• Study: Teen Smokers More Likely To Use Pot 

A new study finds that teens who smoke are 14 times more likely to use marijuana than nonsmokers.

The report notes that 84 percent of the kids who have tried pot have smoked cigarettes within the past 30 days. Also, the study finds those teens who smoke are 18 times more likely to say most of their friends smoke pot.

The findings are in a report by the American Legacy Foundation and the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

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• Class crusade on cancer carrier 

Twenty-year-old Akhilesh Sharma started chewing pan masala when he was in school. In college, he took to smoking. Two weeks ago, he was wheeled into SSKM Hospital, with end-stage oral cancer. Last week, he died a painful death at home, after the hospital let him go as there was nothing the doctors could do.

Sharma is just one among hundreds of schoolboys picking up a pouch of pan masala in school, and facing the consequences, sooner rather than later (see box).

Alarmed at the way students are being drawn towards the 'done thing' of chewing pan masala and then graduating to smoking together they form the single-largest cause of oral cancer the state health and school education departments have chalked out an awareness drive, commencing from the classroom.

"The situation is frightening," said state director of health services Prabhakar Chatterjee. "With the lure of tobacco in the chewable form waiting for them at the gates of their schools, it is natural for students to fall victims," he added, explaining why the tie-up with the school education department was so necessary. . .

Officials have already identified 25 schools in central and north Calcutta, where they will highlight the ill effects of pan masala. "Video clippings showing young patients in pain will be beamed repeatedly," an official confirmed.

Inspector of secondary schools Hiralal Samanta admitted that the trend was taking on alarming proportions.

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