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Tennessee Flunks Most Categories in American Lung Association's State of Tobacco Control Report Card 

Tennessee flunked all but one category in the American Lung Association's State of Tobacco Control 2009 report released today.

Tennessee's scores reflect the state's failure to enact or put into place proven policies for preventing death and disease caused by tobacco use, the number one preventable cause of death in the United States.

The American Lung Association's State of Tobacco Control looks at how well states do at preventing tobacco use and helping smokers quit. The report focuses on four key areas-smokefree air, tobacco control program funding, cigarette taxes, and coverage of tobacco cessation treatments and services.

Tennessee earned a C in smokefree air and F's in tobacco prevention and control spending, cessation coverage, and its cigarette tax rate.

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Anti-smoking group chastises Ohio 

Even as they applauded the federal government's effort to boost tobacco regulation, leaders of the American Lung Association condemned many states, including Ohio, for doing little to prevent smoking and to help smokers quit.

In its annual report card on state and federal efforts to lower tobacco use, the association gave Ohio an A, a D and two F's. The only grade that changed is one based on the state's cigarette tax. Last year, the $1.25 state tax earned Ohio a C. This year, Ohio got a D for not increasing the tax as many states have.

"If we jog in place, we're not going to win the race," said Shelly Kiser, director of advocacy for the association's Ohio office.

The A, for indoor smoking restrictions, is the same grade as last year.

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Report: N.C. still gets mostly Fs on tobacco control  

North Carolina no longer has all failing grades on discouraging tobacco use - but don't attribute the change to the new ban on smoking in restaurants and bars.

The American Lung Association gave a "C" and three "Fs" to North Carolina in its annual State of Tobacco Control report of the 50 states and federal government released Tuesday.

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South Carolina ranks at bottom on anti-tobacco efforts  

South Carolina is one of 14 states that received all Fs on a report card grading states' ability to create laws that protect residents from tobacco-caused illnesses, the American Lung Association announced today.

The association's State of Tobacco Control 2009 report grades states on four points: tobacco prevention and control programs, cessation treatments, state cigarette taxes and strong smoke-free air laws.

South Carolina, along with Alabama, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and Missouri, received the lowest scores possible on all these points, according to the American Lung Association.

The report showed only three states in the union passed strong smoke-free air laws, meeting the the association's Smoke-free Air Challenge of 2009: Michigan, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The year before, only two states met the challenge.

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County gets grade of F for its tobacco policies 

How Ventura County cities fared overall in the American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control 2009 report:

- Camarillo: D

- Fillmore: F

- Moorpark: D

- Ojai: D

- Oxnard: F

- Santa Paula: F

- Simi Valley: F

- Thousand Oaks: D

- Ventura: D . . .

Both the state and Ventura County got an overall F grade. Not one state in the country got an overall A.

“The one thing that strikes me is that every year 36,000 teenagers start smoking, and every year almost 37,000 Californians die of tobacco-related causes,” Warner said.

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Virginia still flunks on tobacco control, health group says 

Despite its new restrictions on smoking in restaurants, Virginia still gets failing grades for tobacco-prevention policies and funding, according to a public health group.

The American Lung Association's annual tobacco-control report card, scheduled to be released today, says Virginia and five other states are flunking when it comes to smoke-free air laws, cigarette taxes, tobacco-prevention spending, and insurance coverage for tobacco-cessation medications and counseling.

Among the reasons for the low grades: Virginia spends only about 13 percent of the $103 million that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends it spend for an effective tobacco-control and prevention program.

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• Seneca Nation leaders call for defeat of PACT Act  

IRVING, N.Y. - An electronic billboard on a busy interstate highway near the Seneca Nation's territory warns that the passage of the PACT Act will destroy the local economy, and urges citizens to tell New York's Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to vote against it.

The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act would prohibit the U.S. Postal Service from delivering cigarettes and certain other tobacco products, effectively putting Indian-owned mail order tobacco businesses - an industry developed by the Seneca Nation over the past two decades - out of operation.

The proposed legislation is co-sponsored by Schumer and Gillibrand, among others.

The two senators - and virtually every other New York senator and congressman - have accepted donations from the giant mainstream tobacco companies, such as Philip Morris, according to www.opensecrets.org, which tracks political contributions. . . .

The Seneca billboard on I-190 specifically targets Schumer and Gillibrand, urging them to vote 'No' and calling on area residents to join in the opposition.

"Western New Yorkers should be asking senators supporting the PACT Act, especially senators right here in New York state, why are they letting Philip Morris take jobs and money from the Seneca Nation and the Western New York economy? What hurts the Seneca hurts Western New York," Seneca said.

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Targacept says it has received $200 million payment from drug-maker 

Targacept Inc. said today that it has received a $200 million upfront payment from AstraZeneca PLC regarding their partnership on a drug compound targeting major depressive disorder.

The companies said on Dec. 3 that they had signed a licensing agreement that could be worth up to $1.24 billion for Targacept.

The agreement covers Targacept's research breakthrough on treating depression with its TC-5214 drug compound. Targacept develops drugs based on its understanding of nicotinic receptors to treat diseases of the central nervous system.

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Re: Docket No. FDA-2009-N-0294 (74 Federal Register 31457 (July 1, 2009)) (PDF) 

In 2008, an international group of experts that provides scientific and technical advice on tobacco products to the World Health Organization ("WHO") similarly recognized that smokeless tobacco products are less hazardous than cigarettes. The WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation ("TobReg") concluded, "[u]sers of smokeless tobacco products generally have lower risks for tobacco-related morbidity and mortality than users of combustible tobacco products such as cigarettes. ,31

The American Council on Science and Health ("ACSH") has also weighed in, issuing a number of reports and statements about smokeless tobacco over the last several years. ACSH is a public health-oriented consumer education consortium with a board comprised of 350 physicians, scientists, and policy advisors. 32 In a report released in 2006, ACSH concluded that, "[o]verall, the use of smokeless tobacco confers only about 2% of the health risks of smoking," emphasizing that in contrast to cigarette smoking, smokeless tobacco poses no risk of lung cancer or other chronic pulmonary diseases and little risk, if any, of other cancers. 33 In a subsequent publication, ACSH noted that almost eighty peer-reviewed scientific and medical articles have acknowledged the differential risks between smokeless tobacco and cigarettes and concluded that the "health risks associated with ST [smokeless tobacco] use are _vastly lower_ than those of smoking. 34

In sum, these and many other scientific reports demonstrate beyond credible dispute that the health risks of moist smokeless tobacco products, including U.S. and Swedish moist smokeless tobacco (snuff and snus), are substantially less hazardous than cigarettes. . . .

IV. Conclusion

FDA has an opportunity to define a thoughtful and effective risk management strategy, including appropriate communications regarding the continuum of risk, that would reduce tobaccorelated harm by successfully helping move individuals who would otherwise continue to smoke cigarettes to a demonstrably less hazardous product like smokeless tobacco. The FSPTCA provides FDA with a wide array of new authorities to draw upon to create a coherent regulatory system for tobacco products that reflects the continuum of risk. Indeed, Congress itself recognized the potential for risk reduction to advance the ambitious public health objectives of the legislation - for example, by creating a pathway to communicate information to consumers regarding modified risk tobacco products.

It bears repeating that the objective of this strategy is to complement, not compete with, efforts to prevent the initiation of tobacco use and encourage those who use tobacco to quit. Although the issues are complex, this objective advances FDA's mission to protect the public health, given that millions of smokers are likely to continue using tobacco products, despite efforts directed toward prevention and cessation. Indeed, a regulatory approach that does not take advantage of the opportunity presented by consumeracceptable, demonstrably lower risk smokeless tobacco products might have the consequence of preserving cigarette smoking as the dominant form of tobacco use in the U. S.

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Transcript of Call with Industry on Draft Guidances 

(Marisa Cruz): Thank you very much Dr. Deyton. First we received a number of questions about the definitions of some of the terms used in the draft guidance. And we would like to address those terms now.

Our answers are based on the draft guidance and we do want to remind everyone that we can change the guidance based on the feedback we receive from you today and from others that are commenting on this guidance document.

First an owner is any person who has an ownership interest in an establishment. If you do not have an ownership interest in an establishment you are not considered an owner. . . .

Jim Dillard: Thank you, hi, this is Jim Dillard from Altria. We had submitted about five questions to Dr. Deyton and what I’d like to do is summarize - there’s three main issues that we’d be looking for some clarification.

The first one, Dr. (Cruz) began to talk about the various establishments. And one of the questions we have is whether or not an establishment that has been closed down, whether or not you have to register that facility, particularly if it closed down say middle of the year.

We had a major manufacturing site that we had announced two years ago that we were in the process of closing and in fact finished that this year.

So we’re curious whether or not that type of establishment needs to be registered on December 30. The second area is around the most recent characterizing flavor standard, 907A1A.

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Transcript of Call with Industry on the Draft Ingredient Listing Guidance Document 

Coordinator: This is a recording of the FTS conference call scheduled for Monday November 9 at 1 o’clock pm Central Time. . . .

Dr. (Glenn Jones): Hello and thanks again for joining us for this session today. Regarding Section 904 A1 for the ingredient listing, the first topic that came up in questions we received is whether you need to list the ingredients for commercially available complex materials that you purchase from a third party vendor such as flavors or pouch paper? . . .

Our first question comes from Greg Wilson. Please state your affiliation sir.

Greg Wilson: Yes, thank you. This is Greg Wilson from Altria. We intend to submit a detailed response to the draft guidance. But we would like to use this call to raise several issues on behalf of Phillip Morris USA and the US Smokeless Tobacco Company where we believe clarification is needed.

First though we are pleased to knowledge that FDA acknowledged in its draft guidance that trade secrets and confidential commercial information it receives from tobacco manufacturers will be protected from public disclosure.

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Indoor concentrations of nicotine in low-income, multi-unit housing: associations with smoking behaviours and housing characteristics (FULL TEXT) 

Objective: An analysis of airborne nicotine measurements collected in 49 low-income, multi-unit residences across the Greater Boston Area. . . .

Results: Nicotine levels ranged from the limit of detection to 26.92 μg/m3, with a mean of 2.20 μg/m3 and median of 0.13 μg/m3. Nicotine measurements were significantly associated with the number of smokers in the household and the number of cigarettes smoked in the home. The results of this study suggest that questionnaire reports can provide a valid estimate of residential exposure to tobacco smoke. In addition, this study found evidence that tobacco smoke contamination in low-income housing developments is not limited to homes with smokers (either residing in the home or visiting). The frequent report of tobacco smoke odour coming from other apartments or hallways resulted in increased levels of nicotine concentrations and SReff in non-smoking homes, suggestive of SHS infiltration from neighbouring units.

Conclusion: These findings have important implications for smoking regulations in multi-unit homes and highlight the need to reduce involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke among low-income housing residents.

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S.C. scores 'F's in smoking prevention  

South Carolina ranks among the worst states in the nation in smoking prevention efforts, according to a new report, just as lawmakers return to Columbia today with raising the state's lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax a top issue.

According to the report by the American Lung Association, South Carolina is one of six states to score all "F's" for their efforts on tobacco prevention and control spending, smoke-free air laws and rules, taxing cigarettes and helping smokers kick the habit. The other states with all failing grades were Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.

All of those issues have been wrapped up in the 10-year push by anti-smoking and public health care groups to raise South Carolina's 7-cent per pack cigarette tax. Last year the House passed a bill to raise the tax 50 cents a pack, but questions about where the estimated $147 million would be spent split the General Assembly.

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• Switching to low tar is not the answer to kicking habit  

Smokers who switch to a low-tar, 'light' or 'mild' brand of cigarette have about a 50pc lower chance of quitting the habit, new research shows.

So-called low-tar cigarettes may seem like the healthier option but when smoked, they deliver amounts of tar, nicotine, and other substances that are comparable with regular cigarettes.

The research comes as thousands of Ireland's smokers -- who still make up 29pc of the population -- embark on a new year drive to break free from their addiction.

The findings on quitting among switchers are based on almost 31,000 smokers . . .

But the switchers who attempted to quit were actually 60pc less likely to be successful, the journal Tobacco Control reported.

In the entire study group -- including those who tried to quit and those who did not -- the overall odds of giving up smoking were 46pc lower among those who switched to a lighter cigarette.

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'Shaming' smokers makes it harder to quit: Study  

Years of anti-smoking laws and campaigns have amounted to a public shaming of smokers that could make it harder for them to quit, a group of UBC researchers argue in a new report.

There is an “urgent” need for governments to revisit their anti-smoking policies, the academics say, suggesting that the stigma around smoking could lead to patients hiding their tobacco use from doctors, and feeling desperate about ever kicking the habit. The policies run counter to how other addictions are treated by the public-health field, they argue.

“People are made to feel really, really bad about their smoking and are treated quite badly, but feel quite helpless in quitting,” said Kirsten Bell, a medical anthropologist at the university and lead author of a paper just published on the issue.

“They feel really negatively about themselves, but quitting seems like an impossibility … They’re not really given much support.” . . .

The researchers’ “shoddy” work just parrots the tobacco industry’s attempt to portray anti-smoking efforts as an attack on individuals, said Garfield Mahood of the Non-Smokers Rights Association.

“What they’ve done with this paper is mischievous and careless and ill-informed,” he said. “These people ... have simply bought into the tobacco industry’s mischief.”

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