Tobacco.org

Smoking at home `akin to suicide pact' 

Hong Kong's ban on smoking in public places has driven people to light up more often at home, setting off alarm bells over family health.

A study has revealed that 51 percent of 126 smokers interviewed lit up more often at home since the ban came into effect, with 56 percent of those saying the lack of alternative venues was the reason for doing so.

"Despite [the ban], there is a troubling trend of smokers lighting up more at home" said Betty Kwan Ka-mei, head of pressure group Smoke Terminators' Society, which carried out the study with the Hong Kong General Chamber of Pharmacies.

Smoking at home is especially dangerous for non-smokers because second-hand smoke comes direct off the cigarette unfiltered and is much more lethal to the comparatively safer smoke drawn in through filters, Kwan said.

"Smoking at home is akin to putting one's family through a charcoal- burning suicide mission," she said.

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Low tar, nicotine cigarettes 'still harmful' ($$) 

Cigarettes containing low levels of tar and nicotine were still harmful a spokesman for the Department of Health (DH) said on Tuesday.

The spokesman was citing the 2007 findings of the government laboratory on the tar and nicotine yields of 77 brands of cigarettes in Hong Kong.

“They best way to protect one’s health was to quit smoking,” the spokesman said.

He noted that the average tar and nicotine yields were 9.4 milligrams and 0.69 mg per cigarette respectively, representing a rise of 0.5 mg for tar and a drop of 0.08 mg for nicotine respectively compared with the findings of 2006.

He stressed that even cigarettes in the low-tar group were harmful to smokers’ health.

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King Tobacco, Balkan Crime Lord 

Cigarette counterfeiting and smuggling in the Balkans is one of the primary drivers of crime and corruption in the region, according to a coalition of investigative reporting projects.

Bosnia-Herzegovina alone is estimated to lose $200 million each year in tax revenue from tobacco smuggling, a sum that could approach billions worldwide.

The Organized Crime & Corruption Reporting Project, with bureaus and partners in Sarajevo, Albania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and else- where, has assembled a massive investigative package on tobacco smuggling, and particularly the involvement of government officials in the region.

High prices and taxes on tobacco in the West are driving the smuggling boom, with a packet of cigarettes purchased in Ukraine for less than a euro selling for seven euros in London. . . .

Source:

"Project: Tobacco" Organized Crime & Corruption Reporting Project, February 2008

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Missouri AG decries tobacco settlement spending 

On Tuesday, Missouri received a $146 million payment as a part of the agreement. In all, the Show Me State has received $1.4 billion from the Master Settlement Agreement over the last decade, according to the attorney general's office.

Nixon, a Democrat, said in a statement that his state has little to show for the money that has flowed from tobacco companies into state coffers.

Money from the Master Settlement Agreement, he said, has not resulted in "substantial resources into programs to keep Missourians, especially young people, from taking up the smoking habit or to help them kick the habit once they're hooked."

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• Tobacco lobby has infiltrated Hong Kong government, campaigner says 

Anti-smoking legislation in Hong Kong has been weakened over the past decade partly because of the links between officials and the tobacco industry, a campaigner alleged Thursday.

Judith Mackay, World Health Organization advisor and director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control, claimed industry influence has caused a 'recession' in smoking controls.

She said the tobacco industry had become more influential with the government over the past 10 years, resulting in the watering down of long-awaited anti-smoking legislation.

Mackay complained about continuing delays to a full ban on smoking in pubs and nightclubs in the former British colony, and low taxes on cigarettes. . . .

'There have been ministers appointed in the government who have had serious tobacco industry contacts,' the activist said. 'There have been people appointed to the central policy unit who have very close links with the tobacco industry.'

Mackay argued that Hong Kong has gone from being the regional leader in tobacco controls to an also-ran, with Singapore overtaking the city as the one with the toughest anti-smoking legislation.

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• Greek tobacco growers protest against EU subsidy cuts 

Around 1,500 Greek tobacco growers marched in Athens on Thursday in an opening protest against European Union subsidy cuts scheduled to kick off similar action around the continent.

The tobacco growers are opposed to a gradual reduction of EU subsidies that the bloc decided in a 2004 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

"The money belongs to those who watered the fields with their sweat for years," read a banner carried by the protesters who marched on the Greek parliament and blocked the city centre for hours.

"We demand a return to a 100-percent subsidy scheme for our produce," George Doubliotis, a senior member of the Greek tobacco growers federation told AFP.

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• Santa Monica: City Council strengthens smoking ban; owners liable 

The City of Santa Monica has strengthened its far-reaching smoking ban.

At a City Council meeting earlier this month, the council approved changes to current smoking legislation to make restaurant owners and managers liable for knowingly or intentionally allowing smoking in outdoor dining areas. The revised ordinance also prohibits smoking on all of the city's library grounds.

At the same meeting, the council directed city staff to return with an ordinance prohibiting smoking in common areas of multi-unit residential buildings.

The city will also explore a variety of other issues involving housing and hold public workshops with input from the Rent Control Board and the Housing Commission, where anyone may express their smoking-related concerns.

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Cigarette tax debate delayed for a week 

The Senate will put off debating a 50-cent per pack cigarette tax for another week, but the bill will take top priority the week of April 28.

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City passes no-smoking ordinance for Nacogdoches - News, Pine Log 

The ordinance will amend Chapter 46 "Health and Sanitation," Article III "Smoking Pollution Control" of the City of Nacogdoches Code of Ordinances. The ordinance was modeled after cities in Texas such as Dallas, Austin and Tyler that have all implemented a smoking ban in public places.

The purpose of the ordinance was stated to "promote public health by reducing public exposure to second-hand smoke." It will prohibit smoking in enclosed public places, such as offices, restaurants, bars, clubs and facilities owned by the city. Smoking is also prohibited within 20 feet of any public entrance to a building, as well as on any patio areas at restaurants.

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D’Ann’s catches fire in Abington  

Popular Abington restaurant D'Ann's, located at 340 Centre Ave., went up in smoke Wednesday afternoon in a three-alarm fire that the Abington Fire Department extinguished within hours, with help from surrounding towns. . . .

"It started out as a mulch fire in front of the building," he said. "They had mulch spread out on the ground for decorative purposes. Someone disposed of a cigarette in a dangerous manner and it got to the wall, extended up the wall, and we had to open up the wall to put the fire out. The inside was pretty well smoked up, there was just a lot of smoke inside."

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Boris draws fire for confused smoke signals 

The Tory candidate for London mayor, Boris Johnson, drew fire Thursday for apparently contradictory statements about the nationwide ban on people smoking in public.

Current Labour mayor Ken Livingstone and Liberal Democrat hopeful Brian Paddick both issued statements condemning the Conservative candidate after he told The Sun newspaper that he was in favour of local referendums across London to allow boroughs to overturn the ban.

Johnson, already criticised for accepting money from the Tobacco Association in June 2007, had made a series of contradictory statements, they both said, after Johnson followed his statement in the Sun with a clarification which said that he personally supported the ban, but thought that the London boroughs should be able to overturn it.

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Boris’s ‘wobbly Thursday’ over smoking and race 

Boris Johnson's mayoral election campaign faltered today. "Whether it turns out to be just a 'Wobbly Thursday' for Boris, or a watershed moment will depend on how much his enemies are able to make of it," a campaign observer told The First Post. . . .

"My children are a quarter Indian - so put that in your pipe and smoke it."

The debate came on the same day that Johnson had to 'clarify' his position on the London smoking ban. On Wednesday, in an online Q&A organised by the Sun newspaper, he suggested that individual London boroughs should be able to overturn the smoking ban. "What is the point of having local democracy if we don't leave decisions like this to a local level?" . . .

Today, Boris issued his 'clarification', saying that he had been expressing his personal view about smoking and democracy. "Personally, I do not like smoking and believe that pubs and clubs are better places since the ban came in."

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Johnson ignites debate over smoking ban  

Boris Johnson has said he wants Londoners to have a say on whether the ban on smoking in public places should remain in place.

During a webchat on the Sun's website, the Conservative mayoral candidate was asked about his views on the current ban, and said that local authorities ought to decide their own smoking policy and that Londoners should have a referendum on giving boroughs the power to opt out.

His posting says: "What is the point of having local democracy if we don't leave decisions like this to a local level? If I had my way, we would have an online referendum in London about whether to give boroughs back the power to give discretion over smoking to pubs and clubs."

His comments were viewed by rivals as signalling an intention to try to overturn the smoking ban - and were quickly condemned.

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Put Your Cigarette Butts Away 

The city council voted to adopt the ordinance that would prohibit smoking in public places. This will go into affect, sixty days after publication. About 80-people were at the meeting, and many of them offered their opinions.

Adam Key, with the Student Government Association at Stephen F. Austin State University, said, "A gross abuse of power by the city council. They really are not considering the rights of every person. This is something that's been pushed by a radical political agenda."

Zachary Hill, a SFA student, gave the commission a petition with about 220 signatures, just asking for the commission to extend the decision, because he says a lot of residents didn't know about the vote. . . .

Members of the Healthy Nacogdoches Coalition were thankful their hard work has paid off.

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• Sky Sports executive slashed wrists after taking controversial stop-smoking drug  

A television executive killed himself just weeks after starting to take a controversial smoking cessation drug linked to depression.

Omer Jama, 39, a Sky Sports editor who had no history of mental illness, was found dead at his home just two months after he began a course of drugs to help him quit his 20-a-day habit.

Mr Jama, a video editor with Sky Sports, had slashed both his wrists and stabbed himself in the thigh and stomach. . . .

Coroner Jennifer Leeming said she would be writing to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use which has been monitoring the drug since it was first authorised in September 2006.

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