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Amish Have Lower Rates Of Cancer, Ohio State Study Shows  

When Ohio State University cancer researchers first began studying a large sect of Amish living in Ohio, they theorized they would find higher incidence rates of cancer. That's because Amish religious beliefs and traditions limit contact with mainstream society, and intermarriage within this relatively small population could increase the incidence of cancer-related gene mutations.

Instead, they found just the opposite, said Dr. Judith Westman, division director of Human Genetics at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute ( OSUCCC-James ).

The study of Amish suggests that clean living can lead to healthier life.

Overall cancer rates in this population were 60 percent of the age-adjusted rate for Ohio and 56 percent of the national rate. The incidence of tobacco-related cancers in the Amish adults was 37 percent of the rate for Ohio adults, and the incidence of non-tobacco-related cancer was 72 percent.

"The Amish are at an increased risk for a number of genetic disorders but they probably have protection against many types of cancer both through their lifestyle -- there is very little tobacco or alcohol use and limited sexual partners . . .

The findings were reported in a recent issue of the journal Cancer Causes & Control.

The study, which spanned 1996-2003 and is the first of its kind, looked at the incidence of 24 types of cancer in the Amish population. Of the 24 types of cancer studied, the incidence of seven of them -- cervical, laryngeal, lung, oral cavity/pharyngeal, melanoma, breast and prostate -- was low enough compared with the Ohio rate to be statistically significant.

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• Florida among states to pass fire-safe cigarette law  

Smokers in 12 states will be lighting - and relighting - fire-safe cigarettes designed to go out when they're not puffed as the result of new laws that go into effect Friday.

The states are among the last to require that all cigarettes meet standards first implemented by New York six years ago. The states with laws going on the books this week are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. . . .

PETITION

Some smokers claim the new cigarettes cause headaches and nausea and contain dangerous chemicals. Cigarettes have already been linked to cancer.

David Jaromnak, a smoker from Reading, Pa., has created an organization called Citizens Against Fire Safe Cigarettes to seek repeal of the laws.

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• Court: Ohio can use tobacco money to plug budget 

The statecan use about $230 million set aside for tobacco prevention for other purposes, an Ohio appeals court ruled Thursday in overturning a trial court's decision.

The 10th District Court of Appeals said Ohio could spend the tobacco prevention money . . .

The argument swayed Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Fais, who barred the state in August from using the funds. But the three-member appeals court overturned that ruling Thursday, which keeps intact lawmakers' spending decisions.

The court ruled that it's up to the Legislature to decide whether it wants to fund programs through the normal budgeting process or through a custodial account, such as the tobacco prevention foundation.

"But the fact that the General Assembly chooses the latter path does not mean that funds placed in a custodial account are shielded in perpetuity from future legislation," the judges wrote. . . .

The state can't access the funds until the case is resolved, which depends on whether the American Legacy Foundation decides to appeal Thursday's ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court.

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• Manufacturers served with statement  

Werner Keller of the Windsor law firm Sutts Strosberg LLP said a statement of claim was served to Imperial Tobacco Canada and Rothmans Benson & Hedges in the last few days. The documents were filed with the court in October.

The lawsuit centres around a guilty plea by Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. and Rothmans Benson & Hedges to a single count of violating the federal Excise Act by "aiding persons to sell or be in possession of tobacco products manufactured in Canada that were not packaged and were not stamped in conformity with the Excise Act and its amendments and the Ministerial regulations". The cash settlement out of the guilty pleas was the basis for the federal Tobacco Transition Program.

Werner said JTI Macdonald has to be treated differently because the company is under court protection under the Credits Arrangement Act. While the act is normally used to provide financial protection for companies filing for bankruptcy, in this case JTI filed for protection due to numerous claims against the company by governments. The charges, which the other two companies pled guilty to are still outstanding against JTI.

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• Crop losing ground in historically tobacco-rich North Carolina  

The Restaurant Smoke Free Law goes into effect Saturday, banning lighting up in restaurants, bars, any lodging and facilities that serve food and drink, convenience stores and other places that fall under county health inspection.

While North Carolina continues to be the nation's largest grower of tobacco, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the crop is steadily losing ground to the rising costs of health care. The result is stricter regulations for smokers and changes to the mind-set of farmers.

Last year, the state produced nearly half the value of the United States' output with $686 million worth of tobacco. Pitt County continues to rank in the top 10 for annual production, USDA statistics show. But the destination for locally-grown tobacco is changing.

Mitch Smith, director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension, said Pitt County now produces half of all exported flue-cured tobacco, an indication that growers are recognizing the evolving culture.

"It looks like the future is going to be primarily continuing to focus on growing a style of tobacco that is exported overseas and trying to grow a crop that those manufacturers can utilize," Smith said. "The future of this industry, at least on the farm, is that growers are more concerned with trying to produce a crop that is more desirable in the minds of manufacturers."

Tobacco remains the top crop locally in terms of money generated, Smith said, but it is no longer the most prevalent in terms of acreage.

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Offenders Will Face Fines  

For those of you who enjoy a cigarette during a restaurant meal, better enjoy it now because Saturday morning at 12:01 it will be against the law in North Carolina.

Signed into law by Gov. Beverly Perdue in May, the new law prohibits smoking in most all restaurants and bars making North Carolina the 26th state in the country to enact such extensive anti-smoking legislation.

People who violate the new non-smoking law could pay a $50 fine, with fines of up to $200 assessed against establishment owners for not making sure their patrons don't smoke.

For local smokers used to the after-meal ritual of lighting up, reaction to the law has mostly been, predictably, negative.

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GRIER: Where there's smoke, there's overregulation  

I spent last New Year's Eve at my favorite Portland pub sipping Scotch and enjoying a cigar with a group of happy smokers. At 11:59 p.m., what we were doing was perfectly legal. At the stroke of midnight, we became lawbreakers when the statewide smoking ban took effect. Many Oregonians are happy to have kicked us out of the bars they frequent. But the smoking ban is more far-reaching than many people realize, affecting even businesses that cater exclusively to smokers. . . . Oregon law requires cigar bars seeking an exemption from the ban to prove that they sold at least $5,000 worth of tobacco in the year 2006. Because Broadway opened in 2009, it can't possibly qualify. Oregon's smoking ban effectively forbids the opening of new cigar bars no matter what steps they take to comply with the law.

Anti-smoking activists will greet these reasonable compromises with hostility, but the more tolerant among us should recognize the rights of consenting adults to own, patronize and work in smoke-friendly environments. There are plenty of smoke-free bars in Oregon; it's time we restore choices to smokers too.

--Jacob Grier is a Portland bar manager.

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• No more lighting up when you're eating out  

Starting Saturday in North Carolina - where tobacco was once king - Eric Althof can no longer fire up his Camel cigarettes while eating out or drinking with friends.

A new law takes effect imposing a fine of up to $50 for smoking inside bars and restaurants and $200 for business owners who permit smoking.

"I don't like it," said Althof, while waiting outside the Penguin in Plaza Midwood and taking the last drag from a cigarette.

North Carolina, the nation's leading tobacco producer, will join nearly 30 other states with similar bans. The change marks a startling shift in a state with deep historical ties to tobacco, public officials and historians say.

"Even as recently as a decade ago, this was unthinkable," said Ferrel Guillory, a professor and political expert at UNC Chapel Hill.

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Even as recently as a decade ago, this was unthinkable.
Ferrel Guillory, a professor and political expert at UNC Chapel Hill, on the state's smoking b an.

Restaurant smoking ban takes effect Sunday 

Earlier this year, Gov. Bev Perdue signed into law a ban on "smoking in certain public places and certain places of employment." The statute cites evidence indicating that second-hand smoke causes cancer and asthma as the compelling public health interest justifying the law that many have called "draconian" and contrary to basic American "freedoms."

"I think it's stupid," said Chuck Colvin as he paid for his lunch at the Market Grill on U.S. 70 East Wednesday. "I don't care one way or the other, I suppose, 'cause I quit on Jan. 3, 1986. But it's stupid. If you don't like to be around smoke, don't go in where there's smoking. That's just common sense."

Donna Pearson, a familiar face behind the counter there, said the restaurant was ready. She didn't know if the customers were, but said they'd figure it out quick enough.

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rendezvous 

Rachel Kitonyo about receiving the Judy Wilkenfeld Award and about tobacco control in Africa

Q1. Let us start with the Judy Wilkenfeld Award. How do you feel about it, what does it entail, what does it change?

Rachel Kitonyo: I felt humbled that out of all nominations received I was thought the most worthy to receive the award.

I am also excited about the opportunity the award gives to create exposure for the work I am doing in Kenya and what we are doing on the continent.

The recognition from the award and the raised profile of the awardee also assists with fund raising which I have already embarked on.

North Carolina Goes Smoke-Free 

Restaurants and bars in North Carolina will go smoke-free on Saturday January 2, 2010, making this state the first southeastern state to completely prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars. However, the North Carolina law does not prohibit smoking in private workplaces, precluding CDC from including it on a list of states with 100 percent smoke-free laws that include all workplaces, restaurants and bars.

Secondhand smoke causes 46,000 heart attacks and 3,400 lung cancer deaths each year and yet, there are still over 126 million nonsmokers in the U.S. exposed to secondhand smoke. In 2006, the Surgeon General concluded that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke and that eliminating smoking from all indoor areas is the only way to fully protect people from secondhand smoke exposure. Separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air and ventilating buildings are not effective ways to protect the public from secondhand smoke exposure.

The Institute of Medicine recently concluded that secondhand smoke exposure could trigger a heart attack and communities that enact and enforce strong comprehensive smoke-free policies realize a reduction in hospitalizations for heart attacks. Two recent scientific studies that reviewed this topic estimated, on average, heart attack hospitalizations drop 8 percent to 17 percent the first year after implementation of a smoke-free law.

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Smoking or non? Soon, it's all non  

Across North Carolina, smokers and businesses will be changing long-held habits and policies come Saturday. That's when the state that tobacco built, after years of legislative debate, will go smoke-free in nearly all restaurants and bars. The rule changes exempt cigar bars and private clubs such as VFW halls and country clubs.

Business owners have known the changes were coming since Gov. Bev Perdue signed the legislation into law in May, and many have been busy preparing for them.

At The Borough in downtown Raleigh, the bar's ashtrays are being auctioned for charity.

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County leaders to push smoking ban expansion  

Mecklenburg County officials said Thursday they would push to expand a statewide ban on smoking in bars and restaurants that goes into effect over weekend.

Speaking at a news conference, County Commissioners Chair Jennifer Roberts and Health Department Director Dr. Wynn Mabry said they would look into proposals to ban smoking in other local workplaces and entrances to buildings.

"This is a sign of the times," Mabry said of the movement to outlaw smoking in public places. "This will be a progressive process."

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North Carolina Goes Smoke-Free on Jan. 2 in Historic Step for Health 

North Carolina on January 2 will take an historic step for health when it becomes the first major tobacco-growing state to implement a statewide smoke-free law that includes all restaurants and bars. This new law will protect the right of North Carolinians to breathe clean air. North Carolina's hospitality workers can now earn a living and the public can enjoy a night out without putting themselves at risk of lung cancer, heart disease and the other serious illnesses caused by secondhand smoke. North Carolina is setting a powerful example for other tobacco-growing states and communities, indeed for the entire nation, by taking strong action to address the devastating toll of tobacco use and secondhand smoke.

We applaud the North Carolina leaders who have championed the new law, including Governor Bev Perdue, bill sponsors Representative Hugh Holliman and Senator Bill Purcell, and the North Carolina Alliance for Health. Their legacy will be better health for North Carolinians for generations to come.

The North Carolina law adds to the growing momentum across the country and around the world to protect everyone's right to breathe smoke-freeair. Once all enacted state and local laws have been implemented, 62 percent of Americans will be protected by strong smoke-free laws that include restaurants and bars.

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VIDEO: Gore: Carbon Polluters Like Big Tobacco 

"Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith recently sat down with Gore and asked him about the environmental debate as we head into a new decade.

In the U.S., while there is more scientific agreement, there seems to be less political agreement about global warming. How does Gore view this disparity?

Gore told Smith, "Some of the largest carbon polluters have been vigorous and try to convince people -- as the tobacco industry did years ago on the link between smoking cigarettes and lung disease -- that there really isn't a link -- between global warming -- pollution and global warming. But the power of that kind of lobbying and advertising does have an impact."

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