Tobacco.org

Mobile phone-based interventions for smoking cessation 

Summary

Can interventions delivered by mobile phones help people to stop smoking?

More evidence is needed to determine if programmes delivered over mobile phones can help people to stop smoking. This review found text message mobile phone programmes to be effective in the short-term (six weeks), and a combined Internet-mobile phone programme to be effective up to 12 months.

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• Time 4 u 2 quit: Text messaging found to help smokers 

Text messaging can help smokers quit the habit, according to an international study.

A review of four trials conducted in New Zealand, Britain and Norway, found that programs to help people stop smoking that included text-messaged advice doubled the chances that smokers would be able to kick the habit for up to a year.

The trials, involving 2,600 smokers, used text messages as a way to give smokers daily advice and encouragement and also offered support when quitters needed it the most.

If they found themselves craving nicotine, for example, they could text "crave" to the program and get immediate advice on what to do.

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• Gov. Kaine Kicks Off 'Countdown To The Restaurant Smoking Ban'  

With just about 50 days to go before the Commonwealth’s landmark smoking ban goes into effect, Governor Timothy M. Kaine is joining dining patrons and community leaders across Virginia today to highlight restaurants that have already gone smoke-free. The new law—called “monumental” in one of the nation’s biggest tobacco-producing states—takes effect December 1 and will prohibit smoking in nearly all restaurants across the Commonwealth. The Governor is visiting successful restaurants in Norfolk, Richmond, Roanoke and Fairfax County that have voluntarily gone smoke-free.

“This historic public health measure will only enhance the high quality of life Virginians have come to enjoy by protecting restaurant patrons and employees from the serious health risks of secondhand smoke,” said Governor Kaine. “With a growing number of Virginia restaurants that have already found they can be both smoke-free and successful, I encourage other restaurants to go smoke-free before December 1 to immediately protect restaurant-goers and workers alike.”

By enacting a ban on smoking in the Commonwealth’s bars and restaurants, Virginia joins the 27 states and the District of Columbia which have already passed similar legislation. Virginia’s law permits narrow exceptions for private clubs and restaurants with designated smoking rooms that are structurally separate and independently vented from non-smoking dining rooms.

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• UPDATE: FDA Says Delaying Tobacco Authority Will Harm Public 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday will tell a federal judge in Kentucky that ordering the agency to delay enforcing new tobacco laws will have "devastating consequences" on public health.

The FDA is facing a challenge to its new tobacco powers, signed into law in June, from tobacco companies including Camel cigarette maker Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) and Commonwealth Brands Inc. The companies say the law imposes unprecedented restrictions on their First Amendment rights and want a federal court in Bowling Green, Ky., to order a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of certain provisions in the regulations.

A judge for the District Court for the Western District of Kentucky is holding a hearing on the preliminary injunction request and could soon decide whether to grant the injunction. . . .

"It is crucial to the public health that tobacco products not be marketed as reduced-risk products unless they will, in fact, reduce risks," the FDA said in a brief filed with the court.

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Ont. man fined $305 for smoking in workplace - his truck 

Ontario's transportation minister was surprised by the first charge laid in the province against a trucker for smoking in his rig but the province's health promotion minister hopes the incident will help convince more people to butt out.

Ontario Provincial Police pulled over a truck on Highway 401 near Windsor on Wednesday when the driver was seen smoking.

Police handed out a $305 ticket because the truck is his workplace and smoking is prohibited at all workplaces in Ontario.

That's the way the law is supposed to work, said Health Promotion Minister Margarett Best.

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EDITORIAL: Ban smoking in city buildings 

When it comes to following rules, laws and guidelines, consistency in enforcement should be the order of the day. . . .

It is incongruous for some city workers to be able to smoke in their workplace while others cannot, with the difference based solely on what building they work in. When council members asked Riesberg how city employees would react to a possible smoking ban, he told them, "Some would like to see all city campuses go smoke-free; some would like to smoke while they are sitting at their desks."

The City Council will have the final say in this matter. We encourage them to enact smoking bans inside all city government buildings. It provides consistency for city workers, and a healthier environment for everyone who frequents the places where our tax dollars are put to use.

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RAI to webcast third-quarter 2009 earnings conference call (PDF) 

Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) will webcast its conference call following the release of third-quarter 2009 financial results on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009. The call will begin at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. During the call, members of the Reynolds American management team will discuss RAI's results for the third quarter of 2009. The RAI conference call will be available online on a listen-only basis at www.ReynoldsAmerican.com.

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North Carolina state health plan to penalize smokers, obese 

The state health plan in North Carolina, home of cigarette makers Reynolds American Inc. and Lorillard Inc., will shift more expenses to smokers and those who are overweight to try to curb medical costs.

Those who use tobacco or have a body mass index above a specified level and don't quit or lose weight will be placed in an insurance plan that pays 70 percent of claims, the health system said on its Web site. Members who can prove through tests that they don't smoke and that they meet the body-mass threshold can choose an option paying 80 percent, officials said.

"We think we'll have $13 million of cost savings in the next fiscal year," Lacey Barnes, deputy executive administrator of the plan, said in an interview today from Raleigh, the state capital. "As smokers quit, there will likely be savings in medical costs."

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Boonton students smoking in pocket park draw mayor's eye 

BOONTON - Students are standing in a pocket park next to John Hill School to get their nicotine fix before school, according to Mayor Cyril Wekilsky, who said he wants to do something about it.

Wekilsky said every morning he drives past a little patch of land next to the John Hill School that was dedicated to the town a few years ago so it could be maintained and he is upset to see anywhere from five to 10 or 15 young people he said look as if they are seventh and eighth graders standing on the property "smoking up a storm."

Like most school districts, the grades K-12 Boonton Schools prohibit smoking on school grounds.

"I think we need to address it," said the mayor, who acknowledged an attempt to do something about young people smoking around the high school a few years ago had not succeeded.

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Pressure to toughen smoking clampdown 

Pub landlords would rather remove their cigarette vending machines than enforce tough laws on preventing child access to them, according to new research.

The proposed new law would require bar staff to identity check every young person wanting to access the machine.

Landlords believe the proposal is impossible to implement during busy hours, according to a survey of licensees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The study was carried out by the British Heart Foundation NI and comes a week before Westminster debate on the issues in the Health Bill.

The BHF want Stormont health minister Michael McGimpsey to go a step further and ban the machines.

The proposed legislation would make landlords responsible for any underage buyers.

A majority of 75 per cent said they would rather have the machines removed than risk prosecution.

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Outdoor smoking issue still up in the air  

The debate continues at Timmins city council on whether it will ban smoking for outdoor locations such as playgrounds, beaches, parks and recreational fields. So far council has had one reading of the bylaw, which was approved.

In order for the draft bylaw to be enacted, council will have to pass three readings. A formal second reading of the draft bylaw will be held later this month.

The issue was brought back to council on Monday for debate and public input. The only citizen input so far has been through a series of letters and e-mails from members of the public.

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D.C. considers partial smoking ban 

Students looking for a smoke break outside may soon have to take their cigarettes elsewhere if a recent D.C. Council proposal to ban smoking cigarettes on sidewalks outside of storefronts passes. Another proposal to ban single-sale cigars, commonly used for smoking marijuana, is also pending.

The proposals would require stores to post warning signs about smoking, and allow property owners to post no smoking signs for up to 25 feet away.

The smoking ban, proposed by D.C. Councilmember Phil Mendelson and Councilmember Yvette Alexander, and the single-sale cigar ban, sponsored by Alexander, were debated last week before the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary. A part of the legislation, the "Blunt Wrap Prohibition," would make it unlawful for "blunt wraps," rolling materials intended to encase substances like marijuana, to be sold, and demands they be classified as drug paraphanelia.

Freshman Steven Landis expressed support for the bill, saying smoking was unhealthy and unwelcome on campus. "I think the ban should happen," Landis said.

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Smoking Ban in Florence Effective Today 

Another city in the Valley is snuffing out smoking starting Thursday.

Florence City law now bans lighting up in public places like parks, schools, offices and restaurants. But, like a similar law passed in Huntsville a few years back - some restaurants and lounges can elect to keep smoking, but they must accept some restrictions. For example, anyone younger than 18 can't go into a restaurant that allows smoking without a parent or guardian.

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• Gov. Kaine in Norfolk today for countdown to smoking ban  

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will be in Norfolk today to help kick off the countdown to the state's restaurant smoking ban.

Kaine will speak at 8:30 a.m. at Panera Bread, 739 W. 21st St., a news release from his office says.

The state's smoking ban takes effect Dec. 1.

Kaine also plans to events to kick of the smoking ban in Richmond, Roanoke and Burke, the release says.

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Obese state workers in North Carolina to pay more for health insurance  

North Carolina is set to become the second state in the country to raise insurance costs for obese state employees; and smokers in both Carolinas will pay higher costs in the coming years.

Smoker Freddy Hall lives in Morganton, North Carolina, and he believes he should pay for it. "In all eventuality, a man who does things to harm himself is going to be discriminated against eventually when it comes to health care," but he hates to see state workers be penalized, saying they have already been hit hard by budget cuts. Smokers will pay more starting in July 2010. The extremely obese will pay more in July 2011. . . .

The State Employees Association of North Carolina taking a stand against it. SEANC Communications Specialist Mary Adelaide Bell told News Channel 7, via phone, "We feel like the plans are discriminatory. They are invasive. They are unnecessary."

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