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Neb. attorneys want smoking ban case dismissed  

State attorneys have asked a Lancaster County district court to reject an Omaha pool hall's request to declare Nebraska's new smoking ban unconstitutional.

Big John's Billiards is fighting the law that took effect June 1, saying the law's exemptions are arbitrary. . . .

In arguments submitted Monday, the state says the court doesn't have jurisdiction over the state or the issue.

A hearing on the matter is set for Aug 6.

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• Pubs are reeling from smoke ban as habits change 

. Jo O'Donnell has met with doctors and landlords to see how the rules have affected smoking - and drinking - habits across the North East

TWO years after smoking was banned in bars, pubs in the North East are reporting huge losses in custom and alcohol sales.

Across the country pubs and clubs are calling time and closing at a rate of 50 a week.

And now the full impact of the change has been felt, landlords say they have been let down over promises non-smokers and families would pour in to their clean-aired taverns.

The smoking ban came just months before the economy peaked, then came the recession damaging sales at a time when supermarkets are offering more cheap drink offers. . . .

Mr Le Clercq said: “Foody-gastro pubs, where they sell more on a plate than in a glass, are not affected and custom has increased.”

One such pub is The Beacon Hotel, Earsdon Road, in Whitley Bay. Bar worker and smoker Ewan Sutherland, 27, of North Shields says the hotel has got busier since the ban.

He said; “It is a good thing for the Beacon and good for all pubs, and the working atmosphere is better as you’re not breathing people’s smoke.” . . .

Meanwhile, pro-smoking campaigner Derek Platten, 56, of Gosforth, Newcastle, opposes the total smoking ban and has set up his own political party called the We Can Smoke Party (WCSP).

He said: “The smoking ban is only right if the Government is prepared to ban the sale of tobacco products, but they don’t because they know they wouldn’t get away with it.”

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Omaha pool hall attorney unfazed by ruling in smoking ban case  

Ted Boecker (BECK-ur) said this week's ruling isn't a final determination and Big John's Billiards will continue to try and prove the law is unconstitutional. A judge has yet to rule on his request to throw out the law altogether.

Boecker had filed the request before the law took effect June 1. He says the law has hurt business and its exemptions, including for cigar bars, are arbitrary.

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FULMER: FDA will not protect tobacco companies from tort liability  

A practically unnoticed provision of the law provides, "No provision of this chapter [i.e., the 'Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act'] relating to a tobacco product shall be construed to modify or otherwise affect any action or the liability of any person under the product liability law of any State." More succinctly, the regulatory system that the FDA will establish will not protect tobacco companies from tort liability.

This provision builds off of the recent Supreme Court ruling in Wyeth v. Levine, where the Court held, 6-3, that even if a drug has been approved by the FDA, patients may still sue the drug manufacturer in state court. . . .

As the intent of the newly passed legislation was to weaken the tobacco industry, it is unlikely that an argument that the law gave new protection to big tobacco would succeed. With this in mind the recent successes of the Engle plaintiffs should only continue.

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Iowa smoking ban’s effect on business at bars inconclusive 

Statistics from the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division show an unsettled picture of the bar business since the smoking ban started.

Gross spirits sales in Scott County through liquor stores and distributors is up by $2.26 million - or 16.8 percent - for the year ending May 31, compared with the same time period ending May 31, 2008, according to the Iowa ABD.

However, the number of liquor licenses issued to establishments in Scott County dropped from 327 in 2008 to 298 this year, continuing a slide from 2006 when 386 on-premise licenses were issued in the county.

"It has hurt all of us," said Joe Sturgis, the owner of the Rusty Nail in Davenport who lobbied strongly against the smoking ban. "We've lost about 10 businesses because of it.

"We probably lost 40 percent of our customers to bars that were openly letting their customers smoke. It has come back, but we're still down about 30 percent." . . .

Iowa bar owners are rankled by how state-licensed casinos are exempt from the smoking ban and want a fair playing field. Locally, however, the Iowa-based casinos' revenue slumped at the end of last year, with gaming officials laying the blame on the recession.

"I would like to have (Gov. Chet) Culver or a judge look me in the eye and tell me the health of my workers is more important than the health of the workers on the boats," Frick's owner Moorman said.

Brian Froehlich, owner of Fro's Pub and Grub in Wilton, has filed a lawsuit in Muscatine County against the Iowa Department of Commerce, asking for judicial review of a 30-day license suspension. The lawsuit is expected to decide whether the smoking ban violates the Constitution's equal protection clause by permitting smoking in some businesses while banning it in others.

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• Opposition To Iowa Smoking Ban Burning Out  

Her acceptance of the ban but uneasiness about government intrusion appears to be a common thread among some residents in a state that last year banned smoking in most workplaces, restaurants and bars.

A coalition of bar owners challenged the ban in court but later dropped their lawsuit. Others have called for lawmakers to revise the law, but Democratic leaders who hold majorities in the Legislature have been adamant that no changes will be made in the near future.

Iowa is among 22 states that prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants, though its law exempts casinos, fairgrounds and veterans organizations. Bans will take effect in four other states this year, and three states ban smoking in restaurants, but not bars.

Despite vocal complaints from some bar owners, compliance with the law has been high, said Lynn Walding, the administrator for the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.

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• Shisha smoking guidance 'needed' 

The smoking ban needs updating to offer shisha bar owners clearer advice, Harrow Council in west London has said.

The bars, where herbal tobacco can be smoked through a communal pipe, tend to have an awning open to the street.

But the law on outdoor smoking shelters means those with roofs should be at least 50% open, so air can circulate. . . .

As in any place of work, smoking is banned on the premises of all shisha bars, which are also known as hookah bars.

Councillor Susan Hall, Harrow's portfolio holder for the environment, said: "These cafes are becoming increasingly popular across London, but the legislation on smoking in public places wasn't framed with them in mind.

"It needs to be updated so all councils have clear guidance on what these cafe fittings should look like.

"We can then balance the right of customers to sit and enjoy the authentic shisha experience while continuing to deliver clean and safe streets."

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Suozzi in talks with Paterson for OK on cigarette tax 

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, in an attempt to gain support for a $2 per pack cigarette tax, said he is negotiating with Gov. David A. Paterson to give nearly half of any county revenue earned from the tax to the cash-strapped state to make up for any anticipated loss of revenue from sales.

Suozzi's comments come after Assembly lawmakers last month balked at approving the bill, apparently because of opposition by Paterson, and recessed for the summer. Tuesday, Paterson declined to comment.

But Suozzi Tuesday again called for state legislators in Albany to approve the cigarette tax to help plug a Nassau budget deficit.

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Cigarette Smoking and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A Meta-analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies 

Smoking has been implicated in many malignant diseases, but its association with colorectal cancer (CRC) is controversial. We quantitatively evaluated the relation between smoking and incidence of CRC in a meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Methods

Full publications of prospective cohort studies were identified in MEDLINE and EMBASE from 1950 to 2008. Subjects were classified as current smokers, former smokers, or never smokers. The quantity of smoking was assessed by number of cigarettes per day, years of smoking, and pack-years. The reported relative risks of CRC were pooled by random-effects model. Sensitivity analysis was conducted, and publication bias was evaluated.

Results

A total of 1,463,796 subjects were recruited in 28 prospective cohorts from America, Europe, and Asia . . .

Conclusions

Smoking was associated with a significantly increased risk of CRC. The associated risk was higher for men and for rectal cancers. The association of tobacco consumption and CRC risk appeared to be dose-related.

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AUDIO: Non-Smokers Suffer Lung Cancer Stigma 

Morning Edition, June 29, 2009 · Smoking is such a well-known cause of lung cancer that many don't realize thousands who never smoked get the diagnosis. The great majority are women. Recent research shows it's really a different disease than smoking-related lung cancer. But those with the diagnosis say they suffer the same stigma.

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Terrorism and Tobacco 

For centuries, blue-turbaned nomadic Tuareg tribesmen have led caravans of camels across the expanses of the Sahara. Laden with millet and cloth from Africa’s West Coast, the caravans traveled unmarked paths to trade for salt and dates in Timbuktu, across the sand plains of Niger, and into the mountain oasis of the Algerian south.

Smugglers take the same routes today — driving SUVs along paved roads or with guidance from the Tuareg and satellite phones — to move weapons, drugs, and, increasingly, humans — through the Sahara for transport across the Mediterranean Sea. The paths are no longer known as the Salt Roads of the Tuareg, but as the “Marlboro Connection,” named after the most lucrative contraband along this 2,000-mile corridor.

Among those who control this underground trade is al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an Algeria-based terrorist organization widely believed to have been backed by Osama Bin Laden. Descended from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (known by its French acronym, GSPC) the group has hundreds of members and is blamed for a bloody campaign of bombings, murders, and kidnappings across North Africa and Europe. The lead smuggler, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, 37, is blamed for the 2003 kidnappings of 32 European tourists and the 2006 murder of 13 Algerian customs officials. “They are a significant threat,” says Lorenzo Vidino, author of Al Qaeda in Europe. “Of all Islamic terrorist groups, they have the most extensive and sophisticated network in Europe… And among their activities, smuggling is particularly important.”

Military officials and scholars say cigarette smuggling, in fact, has provided the bulk of financing for AQIM . . .

Al-Qaeda’s North Africa affiliate isn’t alone. After crackdowns on fundraising following the 9/11 attacks, terrorist groups worldwide have increasingly turned to criminal rackets, officials say. And smuggling cigarettes — either untaxed or counterfeit — has proved a particularly lucrative, low-risk way to fund operations.

Hezbollah, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda are involved in smuggling cigarettes; so are the Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Terrorist financing through cigarette smuggling is “huge,” says Louise Shelley, a transnational crime expert at George Mason University and an adviser to the World Economic Forum on illicit trade.

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Online Genetic Testing Appears to Have Benefits 

Online genetic testing for lung cancer appears to offer some benefits to patients, according to U.S. researchers who evaluated the use of an online test among 44 smokers.

"Up until now we have had a clear model for genetic testing. You see a professional genetics counselor, undergo a battery of tests and that professional helps you interpret your results," Saskia Sanderson, who conducted the study while at the social and behavioral research branch of the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute, said in a news release from the American Association for Cancer Research.

"That model is coming under increasing pressure as more and more genetic information is generated, and as a greater number of genetic tests become available on the Internet," Sanderson added.

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LETTER: Let’s Emulate America on Tobacco  

What is strikingly startling is the fact that more than 400,000 Americans die from tobacco-related diseases annually. Although we may not have accurate statistics on how many people die from it in Nigeria, I know, the situation in Nigeria is no less disturbing than the situation in America hence the need and urgency to do without delay, what the American congress has done.

Nigeria does not have the capacity in terms of health facilities to tackle adequately the menace posed by tobacco consumption and must save her ignorant smoker-citizens the pain of untimely death and cancer this product causes. The whole word is moving on the fast lane of checking and curbing avoidable deaths and we must not be left behind. There must be a vigorous campaign to sensitize the public on the dangers of smoking and consumption of other tobacco products and it is high time the government intervened in regulating the nicotine level of tobacco products manufactured in Nigeria or imported into Nigeria.

Now that the American Congress has taken this bold stop, tobacco manufacturers will begin to shift their market targets to the Third World countries an the only way to check the infiltration of our country with unwholesome tobacco products rejected in America is to adopt a similar measure.

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Smoking May Trigger Brain Damage  

A direct link exists between smoking and brain damage, researchers say.

The scientists found that a compound in tobacco triggers white blood cells in the central nervous system to attack healthy cells, resulting in severe neurological damage.

The compound, NNK, is a procarcinogen, which means it becomes cancer-causing when it's altered by the metabolic processes of the body, the researchers wrote. NNK doesn't cause direct harm to brain cells, but appears to cause neuroinflammation that leads to disorders such as multiple sclerosis.

Scientists at the National Brain Research Center in India found that NNK increases stress-related proteins such as pro-inflammatory signaling proteins and pro-inflammatory effector proteins, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines, which act as molecular messengers between cells. . . .

The study appears in the July issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry.

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Colorectal Cancer Risk Elevated in Men and Smokers 

Male gender and current smoking are significant risk factors for advanced colorectal neoplasia and colorectal cancer, according to two studies published in the June issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

In one study, Kelvin K.F. Tsoi, M.D., of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 28 cohort studies which included 1,463,796 subjects in America, Europe, and Asia who were followed for a median of 13 years. Compared to never smokers, they found that current smokers had an increased risk of colorectal cancer and rectal cancer (relative risks, 1.20 and 1.36, respectively). They also found that male smokers had a higher risk of colorectal cancer than female smokers (relative risks, 1.38 and 1.06, respectively).

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