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Smoking ban exemptions 

A House-passed measure banning indoor smoking contains exemptions, including:

Casinos, but only on the gambling area and betting floor. Bars and restaurants in casinos would be covered by the ban.

The Iowa Veterans Home at Marshalltown.

Private residences, unless they are used for child care or health care.

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China to implement complete smoking ban in schools 

China's health departments are planning a complete smoking ban in nurseries and schools next month.

Wednesday's Beijing News quoted the Ministry of Health as saying nurseries, as well as primary and middle schools would be banned from having smoking rooms.

The ministry said the premise of a "no smoking campus" would soon kick off as part of the activities for the 21st World No Tobacco Day on May 31.

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No smoking: the drawbacks 

SMOKING bans in restaurants and bars may be doing more harm than good by banishing smokers to homes where children's health could be affected.

And tax hikes on cigarettes may not improve the health of smokers, because smokers compensate by extracting more nicotine from each cigarette, according to research by British economists Francesca Cornaglia and Jerome Adda.

The pair analysed the nicotine levels of more than 30,000 non-smokers in the US between 1998 and 2001 following smoking bans in some states. They found that bans on public transport and in schools decreased exposure to nicotine, but bans in bars and restaurants increased exposure, notably among young children. . . .

In their paper, "Taxes, Cigarette Consumption and Smoking Intensity", the authors argued their findings questioned the usefulness of tax increases.

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Smoking bans pick up steam in latest poll 

Wisconsin residents show an increased support for smoking bans, according to a poll released today.

The poll showed 69 percent of respondents favor legislation prohibiting smoking in indoor public spaces, workplaces, bars and restaurants.

That percentage is up 5 percent from a 2007 poll headed by the same firms that conducted this poll, the Mellman Group and Public Opinion Strategies.

"Results show public opinion has moved more in favor of the smoke-free laws," said Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smoke Free Wisconsin.

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Senate sends smoking ban to governor  

The Senate followed suit with the House today by approving a conference committee report on House File 2212 that would ban smoking in most public places in Iowa.

The bill now goes to Gov. Chet Culver for his expected signature.

"Gov. Culver congratulates the House and Senate for working together on this important initiative which will make Iowa a healthier state, and he looks forward to signing the bill into law," said Brad Anderson, Culver's communications director.

The Senate voted 28-22 in favor of the bill, which would allow smoking on casino floors and at the Iowa Veterans Home but ban it in other workplaces and public areas both indoor and outdoor.

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Senate gives final legislative approval to smoking ban 

The Iowa Senate has given final approval to a bill that would ban smoking in most public places around the state. There would be exceptions as, for example, smoking would still be allowed on the gaming floors at the state-licensed casinos.

Senator Staci Appel, a Democrat from Ackworth, was the last to speak after over two hours of senate debate. "We simply cannot sit back and pretend our friends, our neighbors and our family members are not suffering each day from second-hand smoke," Appel said.

Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, said attitudes about smoking have changed.

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Legislature narrowly approves smoking ban, exempts casinos 

The Legislature approved a statewide ban on indoor smoking Tuesday that supporters said would save countless lives, boost public health and protect thousands of Iowa workers.

The bill heads to Gov. Chet Culver, who has pledged to sign it into law. That means thousands of bars, restaurants and other public facilities would become smoke-free by July 1.

"I'm a former smoker and I watched tobacco shorten the lives of both of my parents, so this is personal to me," said Rep. Phil Wise, D-Keokuk. "This is a life and death issue."

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Smoking bans and taxes, do they work? 

British researchers say some of the recent strategies employed to reduce the dangers of smoking may not be as effective as imagined.

Dr. Francesca Cornaglia, an economist at Queen Mary University, London, says smoking bans in bars and restaurants could be forcing smokers back to homes where children's health could be affected and the bans may be doing more harm than good.

Dr. Cornaglia also suggests that heavily taxing cigarettes may not improve the health of smokers, because smokers compensate by extracting more nicotine from each cigarette.

Dr. Cornaglia who works in labour economics, applied micro-econometrics and health economics, has written a number of papers on the economics of smoking. . . .

However Dr. Cornaglia says smoking bans might be beneficial in the long term because they might encourage parents to quit.

The researchers say previous research which measured smoking only by the number of cigarettes smoked was an imprecise measure because smokers adjust not only the number of cigarettes smoked but also the amount of nicotine they extract.

The authors presented their research "Taxes, Cigarette Consumption and Smoking Intensity", this week at the Australian National University, presented by the Economics Program and the 'Productive Australia in the World Economy' theme in the Research School of Social Sciences.

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Poll says 69 percent want smoking ban  

Around 69 percent of residents support a statewide smoking ban, according to a recent poll, though the bill is stalled in both the state Senate and state Assembly.

A poll released Tuesday showed a majority of Wisconsin residents favor a statewide smoking ban.

The poll found 69 percent supported a ban, up five percentage points from a year ago.

Smoking bans have recently passed in Eau Claire and Marshfield, Wis.

“The question is no longer if we will be smoke-free, it is now a question of timing,” Aaron Doeppers, Midwest regional director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement.

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Poll shows push for smoking ban 

More than two-thirds of Wisconsin voters are fired up for a statewide smoking ban, and more people support the change now than last year, according to a poll released Tuesday.

The survey showed 69 percent would favor a law prohibiting smoking across the state in "most indoor public places, including all workplaces, public buildings, offices, restaurants and bars." That number is up 5 percent from last year's survey.

The proposed law, which drew heavy debate in the state Legislature this session but never reached resolution, drew consistent support, averaging 65 percent in favor in most areas of Wisconsin. In the Madison and South Central Wisconsin region, where local bans like those in Madison and Fitchburg have already taken effect, support jumped to 85 percent of respondents.

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Poll: 69% back smoking ban 

More Wisconsin residents favor laws to prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants and other workplaces, according to a new poll.

Sixty-nine percent of Wisconsinites responding said they favored statewide smoke-free laws, including bans in bars and restaurants. That's an increase of five percentage points since the poll last had been conducted in March 2007. Moreover, 78 percent of respondents, including 70 percent who oppose such legislation, believe it could pass soon.

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• A.C. Council to take up full smoking ban in casinos  

The nine-member Atlantic City Council is expected to take up a controversial measure later today that will prohibit smoking in all the casino floors here for the first time in the seaside resort's 30-year history of gambling.

Four council members are co-sponsors of the measure, and only one more member is needed for passage.

The call for a full smoking ban arrives on the eve of the first anniversary of the partial smoking ban that took effect April 15, 2007. That confined smoking to 25 percent of the casino floors here, also known as the "75-25 rule."

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Campaign Aims to Extinguish Smoking  

If you're one of the 70 to 80 percent of the country's 45 million smokers who frequently think about quitting, public health experts want to help. Several big-name health groups, including the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society, have joined together to launch the Ex campaign.

That's Ex as in ex-smoker ( http://www.becomeanex.org)

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Smoking ban support grows 

A new report claims support for a statewide smoking ban in Wisconsin continues to grow.

The study from the Breath Free Wisconsin Coalition found nearly 69-percent of Wisconsinites support a statewide smoking ban. The Coalition's Allison Miller says that's a five-percent increase from a similar study done a year ago. About 28-percent of Wisconsinites oppose a statewide ban, down six-percent from the same 2007 study.

The report also shows a growing number of smokers in the state support a statewide smoking ban, with 45-percent in favor and 49-percent of smokers against one.

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Iowa legislature reaches compromise on smoking ban bill  

A conference committee established to find a compromise on a statewide public smoking ban approved a proposal Monday night that would impose a broad ban with major exemptions for casino gaming floors and the Iowa Veterans Home.

That proposal, approved along a party-line vote, could come up for a vote in the House as early as today.

State Rep. Tyler Olson, D-Cedar Rapids, who led efforts to pass the smoking ban in the House, said he would have preferred a proposal without the latest exemptions, but he felt they were needed to gain enough votes for approval in the full House.

Olson still believes the proposal is progress, and he said public pressure to pass a ban is increasing.

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