Tobacco.org

• Smoking More Than Five Cigarettes A Day May Provoke Migraine Attacks 

Tobacco acts as a precipitating factor for headaches, specifically migraines, new research suggests. This is indicated in a study which shows that smokers have more migraine attacks and that smoking more than five cigarettes a day triggers this headache. The work has appeared in the Journal of Headache and Pain.

The influence of tobacco as a precipitating, non-causal factor of migraine attacks has produced contradictory data in scientific literature. The limited research prior to the work published in The Journal of Headache and Pain indicated that smoking could improve migraines by reducing anxiety, one of the factors that triggers an attack.

"This study is groundbreaking in Spain as there are few studies on this topic, and all are very biased. This is due to the complexity and need for prior training of the participants", Julio Pascual, one of the authors of this research and doctor at the Neurology Unit of Marqués de Valdecilla, University Hospital (Santander), explains to SINC.

Jump to full article »

EDITORIAL: A wacky way to decide funding 

THE use of tobacco by underage teen-agers is said to be on the rise in West Virginia. If it rises too much, the federal government may reduce the state's funding for prevention efforts under the annual Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grants.

That's federal logic for you. If the need for a program rises, funding for it will be cut.

This would be like reducing aid to the state of California for unemployment compensation because the unemployment rate in California rose to 11.5 percent.

That's illogical.

There is also the problem of how this "data" was collected and what was measured to determine the rate of teen smoking in West Virginia. . . .

While it is good to try to measure the success of government programs, this does not seem to be an ideal way of measuring tobacco use by teens.

Besides, if tobacco use by minors is on the rise in West Virginia, efforts to stop it should be stepped up.

Jump to full article »

Juvenile tobacco sales up in W.Va. 

-Rates of tobacco sales to underage customers have been creeping up over the past five years, and state health officials worry that West Virginia could lose millions in federal funding if that trend continues.

"No tobacco is supposed to be sold to kids," said Bruce Adkins, director of West Virginia's Division of Tobacco Prevention. "We know, and West Virginia is an example. We have a fairly high rate of illegal sales to youth."

Random inspections of retailers show that 17.9 percent sold tobacco to minors last year, according to the Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Synar Report for West Virginia. The study is named for former Oklahoma Congressman Michael Synar and federal legislation to ban sales of tobacco products to people younger than 18.

The Fiscal Year 2009 West Virginia data reflected inspections at 458 outlets, of which 82 were found in violation, the study showed.

Jump to full article »

Will County adopts tobacco ordinance initiated by students  

Youthful idealism won a victory last week with the Will County Board's unanimous passage of an ordinance regulating the sale and distribution of tobacco products in unincorporated parts of the county.

The local legislation, based on a model ordinance developed by seven Plainfield Central High School National Honor Society students, licenses retailers who sell tobacco products and establishes both an employee training program and fines for noncompliance.

The majority of the sponsoring group, now Plainfield Central graduates, addressed the board before the vote. They echoed earlier arguments that the ordinance would help limit teens' access to tobacco.

Jump to full article »

Eagle City Council tables smoking ordinance 

A ordinance to ban smoking in bars and certain public places failed to get the support it needed to pass in Eagle.

Council members considered the smoking ordinance Tuesday night, after passing a preliminary one earlier this month. But after several hours of debate and more public input, the council voted 3 to 1 to table the ordinance.

Michael Huffaker was the council member who changed his vote to be against the ban.

"Nothing had changed," Huffaker says. "I was just persuaded, we are all opposed to second hand smoke but this is really not a great way to implement that policy."

Jump to full article »

• West Des Moines apartment complex makes buildings smoke-free  

Iowa's largest apartment complex is making nearly 25 percent of its 1,076 apartments smoke-free, owner Keith Denner said Tuesday.

The move is designed to improve the health and safety of residents, said Denner, who owns and manages the Sun Prairie and Vista Court Apartments in West Des Moines, which are adjacent to each other and include 40 buildings.

"This is supply-side economics at its best," said Bonnie Mapes, director of the Iowa Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control.

"This is not government-driven. It's a business decision"

Jump to full article »

• Pub plans to make tobacco history 

A 17th century pub near where Sir Walter Raleigh is rumoured to have first smoked a pipe of tobacco is to run a stop-smoking course.

The Long Arms in South Wraxall near Bradford-on-Avon, in Wiltshire, is just two fields away from South Wraxall Manor, where legend has it tobacco was smoked for the first time in England.

Landlady Jacqui Price, who has run the pub with her husband Bob for the past four years, is signing up to the sessions along with head chef Dan Hinds. The scheme will be run for customers in the autumn.

Sir Walter is said to have been the first to bring tobacco to Britain from the New World in the late 16th century, and a maid at South Wraxall Manor reputedly doused him in water after thinking he was on fire as he puffed away on his pipe.

But The Long Arms has been badly hit by the nationwide smoking ban, introduced in England in July 2007, and is now also suffering as a result of the credit crunch.

Jump to full article »

Legislators likely to hike cigarette tax to help deficit  

"We're looking at 50 cents, we're looking at 75 cents and what it would raise," said state Rep. Cameron Staples, D-New Haven, a chairman of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

According to data provided by the state budget office, the $2 tax on cigarettes is anticipated to bring in about $315 million in the current fiscal year.

The Democrats' earlier budget proposal estimated that a 50-cent increase would result in an additional $32 million in revenue in the 2009-10 fiscal year, and $63 million the following years.

"Nothing at this point is set in concrete," Staples said.

But his co-chairman, state Sen. Eileen Daily, D-Westbrook, who smokes, said an increase is likely.

That angered state Rep. Terry Backer, D-Stratford, a pack-a-day smoker.

Jump to full article »

菲律宾首都推行禁烟令 严重违规者或遭拘留 

在菲律宾首都马尼拉大区的曼达卢永市，公共场合吸烟者不仅要面临罚款，还要面临3天到6天的拘留处罚。

Jump to full article »

叶檀：先不要为加征烟草税鼓掌 

财政部和税务总局近日下发通知，在烟产品生产环节调整了计税价格，提高了消费税税率，在批发环节加征了一道从价税。欢呼的禁烟者还没有定下神，就发现此举不是为了减少烟民，纯粹是为增加财政收入。

Jump to full article »

上海 洛阳等7城市成中国首批试点“无烟城市” 

新华网河南频道6月25日讯 大河网-河南商报报道：世界首富比尔·盖茨的基金会和洛阳市即将有资金往来——如果后者的相应工作被评估通过，今后三年，前者每年将在洛阳市投下10万美元。

Jump to full article »

本网特别报道:中国两年内全面禁烟缺乏国家层面立法 

2009年6月16日，新探健康发展研究中心在北京河南大厦召开了“ 加速实现100%无烟环境”研讨会，会上国内的公共卫生专家点评了北京禁烟令实施一年来的得失。专家一致认为，北京禁烟令扩大了公共场所的范围，在全国起了示范作用，但执行难、谁来执法这些固有问题依然没有得到解决。

Jump to full article »

Smoking to be banned while under-18s are in the car 

SMOKING in cars carrying children under 18 will be banned.

Police will be able to fine motorists caught smoking while driving with children under legislation introduced in State Parliament on Thursday.

Health Minister Daniel Andrews said the air quality in a car filled with cigarette smoke was similar to that found in a "smoky pub", even with the windows wound down.

"There is no risk-free level of second-hand smoke in confined areas such as cars," he said.

Jump to full article »

LEVISTER: Anti-Smoking Bill A Victory For Kids 

Mr. Obama cited his own long struggle to quit the cigarettes he got hooked on as a teenager and praised the bill for providing critically needed protections for kids.

Studies show that African Americans smoke fewer cigarettes when compared to Caucasians, but they share a far greater burden of smoking related health problems.

It's important to make sure kids understand the dangers of tobacco use. . . .

Giving kids information about the risks of smoking and chewing tobacco, and establishing clear rules and your reasons for them, can help protect them from these unhealthy habits.

Jump to full article »

BRANTINGHAM: Smoking Sex 

Coffin Nails: A visitor from England pulled out a pack of cigarettes and showed me the warning printed in large, black letters against a white background: “Smoking Kills.” . . .

senators from tobacco-growing states long protected their harvest of shame. Smoking kills an estimated 400,000 people a year in the U.S., plus thousands more due to second-hand smoke.

. . .

This seems to have escaped the notice of stogie-puffing Gov. Schwarzenegger, who has a chance to help wean Californians from their nicotine addiction, but is blowing it. With the state facing insolvency, Arnie claims that the Legislature’s proposed $2.10-a-pack tobacco tax hike would be “irresponsible,” even though it would discourage some smokers and raise $1 billion to help balance the budget. The governator appears to be blowing smoke—playing ideology politics (“no new taxes”) with the public purse and health. State Sen. Tony Strickland also voted against the tobacco tax hike.

Smoking costs Californians $8.6 billion in medical costs alone . . .

You can count on an army of lobbyists to stand in the way of fiscal responsibility and public health. “California legislators are grasping at tax straws that don’t exist as they seek to raise billions of dollars that don’t exist for a balanced state budget that doesn’t exist,” according to the in-denial International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association. . . .

The Bush administration, by contrast, was widely considered a good friend of the tobacco industry. Some of Bush’s top staffers had backgrounds in tobacco, including senior adviser Karl Rove, who once worked with Philip Morris.

Jump to full article »