Tobacco.org

• Croatian smoking ban sparks debate among bloggers  

Croatia began enforcing a smoking ban in public places on May 6th. The law allows smoking outside facilities -- offices, bars, restaurants, and cafes -- but not indoors.

While some employers are lukewarm about the law, restaurant and bar owners are outraged, fearing that they will lose clientele. Restaurateurs have reportedly started an initiative to put Croatia on the list of countries that discriminate against smokers.

The blog community is divided, yet passionate, about the issue. Non-smokers are exhilarated, painting the law as a very positive step towards improving the nation's health, while smokers consider it repressive.

Nepusac praises the "healthiest law that was ever passed" in Croatia and warns that the tobacco industry is "trying to act through the restaurant and bar owners" to reverse the law. He finds their attempt outrageous, claiming they "promote the old myth that smoking is something entirely normal while non-smoking is not". He calls on everybody to support the government's stand, which reflects "civilisation, awareness and societal health".

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Smoking can be fatal 

Many teenagers start smoking due to peer pressure. Actually, this is quite common in Mauritius. In the desire to gain acceptance from their peers, many youngsters do not think twice before giving themselves to cigarettes. Other youngsters, mistaking cigarette smoking as a sign of adulthood and maturity start to smoke. . . .

Keeping in mind the protection of non-smokers' health, the government of Mauritius has put restrictions on the consumption of tobacco products in public. This law came in force as from March 1, 2009. Smoking is prohibited in indoor areas (that is, any space with a roof and /or more walls), in public transport, outdoor premises of health, educational and sport institutions, recreational places including public gardens and excluding beaches; cafes, bars, nightclubs and restaurants; bus stands, bus stations; while preparing, serving or selling foods in public places; while driving or traveling in a private vehicle carrying passengers. . . .

With the aim of seconding the government in its endeavours, the Ligue Vie et Sante (ViSa Association), presided by Veronique Le Clezio, has organised a series of activities to mark the World Anti-Tobacco Day celebrated on May 31. Additionally, all public places where smoking is prohibited should be equipped with a "No Smoking" sign.

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'Controversies' in Paris - When a Picture Is Worth a Thousand Debates 

All this is the familiarly messy, philosophical heart of photography, and it’s also the subject of a show that just closed here, itself a mess. “Controversies: A Legal and Ethical History of Photography” was organized by Christian Pirker and Daniel Girardin, a lawyer and a curator from Switzerland, where the exhibition originated. Louvre-length, two-hour lines daily snaked out the door of the Bibliothèque Nationale here until the end of last month. (The show moves on to South America.) Inside, scrums of visitors clustered before 80 or so pictures, more or less famous troublemakers, spanning the era of the daguerreotype through Abu Ghraib. . . .

A mess, as I said. But willy-nilly, some big questions arose. The biggest, as Mr. Girardin ventured by telephone the other day, was, “What is possible to show in a photograph?” He elaborated: “What does society accept or refuse? Why are some pictures shown over and over, and then they suddenly become unacceptable?”

In that case he was alluding to a portrait by Boris Lipnitzki from 1946, not a remarkable photograph but a curious case. Jean-Paul Sartre leans over the footlights at the Théâtre Antoine, pinching the remains of a smoldering cigarette between his fingers. This is the picture that in 2005 the Bibliothèque Nationale doctored for the cover of a catalog for a Sartre exhibition. The library expunged the cigarette. Nearly a decade earlier French postal authorities, as part of a national anti-smoking campaign, issued a stamp based on a famous snapshot by Gisèle Freund of André Malraux, tousled, perennial cigarette between lips. Authorities guillotined the cigarette.

That rightly burned French critics who decried — this was the French equivalent of freedom fries, you might say — what they called American-style political correctness, notwithstanding that the history of photography is rife with subterfuges concocted in the name of some greater social good, American and otherwise.

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VIDEO: Au Revoir Cigarettes 

TIME's Grant Rosenberg reports from Paris on the end of the very French custom of smoking in bars and restaurants.

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Mount Carmel fire blamed on cigarette, medical oxygen tank 

A Wednesday night house fire on Elm Street in Mount Carmel has been attributed to a person using medical oxygen while smoking a cigarette, a combination that has resulted in several serious residential fires in the region over the past year and a half.

At 8:43 p.m. Wednesday, firefighters were dispatched to 534 Elm St. in Mount Carmel, a residence occupied by Varcilla Jackson, 57, and her father Guy Cobb, 81.

Mount Carmel Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chris Jones said Jackson, who is on a medical oxygen tank, was lying in bed and fell asleep while smoking a cigarette.

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Schumer warns of teen smoking  

According to Schumer’s office, in the eight counties of Western New York, there are about 15,500 teenagers who smoke cigarettes regularly; another 4,600 male teens use smokeless tobacco products. That includes: • Cattaraugus County 900 smokers; 300 smokeless tobacco users • Chautauqua County 1,500 smokers; 400 smokeless tobacco users • Erie County 9,400 smokers; 2,800 smokeless tobacco users.

According to U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, that, due in part to tobacco ads targeted at minors, 79,800 children from New York state will have their first cigarette this year and 23,900 of them will become regular smokers. In order to combat the problem, Schumer announced that he is co-sponsoring legislation, introduced by Senator Ted Kennedy, to prevent tobacco companies from targeting underage smokers with advertisements and products.

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New Board For A Changed Industry  

The tobacco board as locals knew it has now been revitalized and includes just five members. Newly appointed Chair Fred Neukamm tells CD 98.9 the changes were not completely unexpected. The changes to the transition program and the elimination of the quota system called for a change in what was the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board.

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Alcohol use low in moms-to-be, higher after birth 

A new report provides both encouraging and discouraging data regarding the use of alcohol, cigarettes and illicit drugs by pregnant women and new mothers, according to a statement from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

According to national survey data, most women are paying attention to warnings about the dangers that substance use during pregnancy can pose to the developing fetus -- and are avoiding harmful substances during pregnancy.

However, many new mothers go back to alcohol, cigarettes and illicit drugs soon after they give birth.

"Alcohol, cigarettes, and illicit drug use during pregnancy can cause poor pregnancy outcomes and early childhood behavioral and development problems, and use after pregnancy exposes children to a variety of negative effects. These problems can limit a child's potential, are costly and 100 percent preventable," said SAMHSA's Acting Administrator Eric Broderick. . . .

Effective interventions to reduce substance use during and after pregnancy could improve the health and well-being of infants and new mothers, the SAMHSA report concludes.

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LETTER: Smokeless tobacco addictive  

Here's the good news: More people are quitting smoking or attempting to quit, a 2007 report on New York's tobacco control program found. A significant majority of Capital Region residents are limiting their exposure to toxic secondhand smoke by prohibiting smoking in their homes and cars, including 43 percent and 39 percent of current smokers, respectively, our 2007 community survey found. Seven Capital Region towns have made their parks and outdoor recreation areas smoke-free.

What does that mean for the tobacco industry? As reported in the May 19 article, "Altria cites smokeless items as key for business," that appeared on timesunion.com, it means fewer cigarettes sold. But not fewer profits if Altria can help it. Altria is building a base for smokeless tobacco products -- snuff, chewing tobacco and snus-- as addictive and harmful as cigarettes, but without the smoke.

So, maybe we'll see less lung cancer resulting from tobacco use, but we'll likely see more cancer of the mouth, cheeks, gums, stomach, esophagus and bladder. And nicotine addiction is addiction in whatever form, so heart disease will persist as a result.

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Pediatricians academy holds art contest for kids  

The American Academy of Pediatrics is inviting kids to enter an anti-smoking art contest, with winners getting a trip to the nation's capital.

The contest theme is called "Protecting Children from Tobacco Smoke." It's open to three age groups: kids in third to fifth grade; those in grades six to eight, and ninth-through twelfth graders. . . .

Entries must be postmarked by July 31st. Rules and entry forms are on the Elk Grove Village-based academy's Web Site, www.aap.org.

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EDITORIAL: Tobacco: Equalizing taxes logical step  

Critics of former tobacco lobbyist Gov. Haley Barbour's call to raise cigarette taxes on companies that didn't participate in the state's tobacco lawsuit settlement and change the way the state taxes smokeless tobacco claim he's doing so to help some of his old lobbying clients.

Those critics say Barbour's trying to "level the playing field" for companies that sell premium brand cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products - companies he once represented.

Quite frankly, that's an intriguing political allegation and one that non-participating tobacco manufacturers and discount tobacco sellers would be expected to make.

But the fact of the matter is that even if that political allegation is true - and this newspaper has no particular evidence to suggest that it is or isn't true - the assessment is the same: Big deal. . . .

Why shouldn't those companies pay their share of the freight toward the social costs of smoking?

From the standpoint of public health and from the standpoint of tobacco products as so-called "gateway" drugs - with smokeless tobacco products still marketed toward young people much in the way cigarettes were a generation or two ago - there should be no particular consideration afforded "market share" among the tobacco companies.

Lawmakers have given this segment of the state's tobacco lobby a free ride (or, at the very least, a reduced ride) for too long. Tobacco taxes should be equalized.

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Alliance One Announces Arrangements for Fiscal Year 2009 Financial Results Investor Call 

Alliance One International, Inc. (NYSE: AOI) today announced that it will hold a conference call to report financial results for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, on June 8, 2009 at 5:00 P.M. ET. Those seeking to listen to the call may access a live broadcast on the Alliance One website. Please visit www.aointl.com fifteen minutes in advance to register.

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• Heaviest Smokers Face Greatest Risk of Death After Lung Cancer Diagnosis 

It's common knowledge that smoking raises risks of lung cancer. And yet researchers haven't known whether continued smoking by lung cancer patients would increase the risk of the cancer's spread.

Researchers at West Virginia University - studying the relationship between death rates from lung cancer and how much a person smoked - have found that smoking intensity in fact predicts how the disease will progress.

Patients who smoked two packs a day had a 58 percent higher risk of their lung cancers returning or spreading compared with nonsmoking patients.

Smoking intensity is one of only two factors found to predict lung-cancer mortality, according to the study published in the May issue of the journal Lung Cancer. The other factor is the stage of the cancer when diagnosed. Almost 350 patients with non-small cell lung cancer were studied.

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EDITORIAL: Policing cigarettes 

It took decades of scientific and political battles before cigarette makers would admit the obvious: Cigarettes kill people. Warnings about the dangers of smoking are now plain on every pack sold in America.

It took years of brawling in statehouses before tough anti-smoking laws exiled smokers to the sidewalks.

Now, there's another fight -- no, another chance -- to stop kids from starting this lethal habit and to help adults quit. . . .

It has been nine years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the FDA had no power to regulate tobacco because Congress had not granted that power. So, Senators, pass this bill. President Barack Obama, a smoker who has struggled to quit, says he'll sign it.

Cigarettes will never be safe. But the FDA can make sure that smokers know what they're getting -- and understand the risks.

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BASHAM: FDA to Regulate Tobacco? Big Mistake 

Handing tobacco regulation over to the FDA, as Congress is poised to do, is an epic public health mistake. It is tantamount to giving the keys of the regulatory store to the nation’s largest cigarette manufacturer, Philip Morris.

The legislation that will be voted on shortly in the Senate was cooked up out of public sight by Philip Morris, Sen. Ted Kennedy, Rep. Henry Waxman, and anti-tobacco lobbyists. Philip Morris staffers themselves even wrote large portions of the bill. . . .

The bill fails to correctly identify the reasons why young people begin to smoke, and concentrates almost exclusively on restricting tobacco marketing, while leaving the other risk factors for adolescent smoking unaddressed. There is nothing in the proposed legislation that shows the FDA understands the well-documented connections between education, poverty and smoking status, connections that provide the key to helping adults stop smoking.

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